The era of the eye-catching SonntagsBlick boxes is coming to an end
On Sunday, the Ringier newspaper vending machines were stocked with the *SonntagsBlick* for the last time. In German-speaking Switzerland, these eye-catching boxes have long been a familiar sight in villages.
Ringier once operated around 3200 boxes. "At the best of times, we sold up to 100,000 newspapers per Sunday," Ringier media spokesperson Michele Paparone told the Keystone-SDA news agency. The View could be purchased from vending machines between 1988 and 2009.
But the change in reading habits led to the end of the vending machines. Ringier only had 938 boxes in use at the end. Compared to Personal Ringier was still talking about a sales figure in the "low four-digit range". After the last Sunday in July, these vending machines were also dismantled.
Launched as early as 1969
Boxes have long been part of the village scene in German-speaking Switzerland. Ringier started using them back in 1969 - at the launch of the SonntagsBlick. The current model has been in use since 2006. Until 2015 and 2016 respectively, the eye-catching red and yellow boxes were still in competition with Tamedia and NZZ.
According to Paparone, vending machines have long served a customer need in rural regions and conurbations. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, when Sunday sales were banned, this made it possible to distribute newspapers in a reasonably regulated manner. But the reasons for running the vending machines for so long no longer apply: "Reading habits have changed dramatically again. The vending machines can no longer be operated economically," says the media spokesperson.
A vending machine as a fake flash box
So soon all that remains are anecdotes from the eye-catching newspaper boxes. There are quite a few, says Paparone. For example, that a vending machine was placed in a garden because of a neighborhood dispute. Or that the lake police once fished one out of the water.
Especially at carnival, the SonntagsBlick-Some of them reappeared, others disappeared forever. Some were offered for sale on the online marketplace Ricardo without Ringier's consent. However, disused vending machines are also popular as bar cabinets or garden lanterns.
Last but not least, a prankster also caused a stir on the internet when he falsified a picture of a newspaper box as a speed trap. In 2011, 2012 and 2014, there was great excitement about the "speed trap". (SDA/swi)
