[4] In 1833, Italian-born merchant Johann Peter Jelmoli, settled permanently in Zürich, Switzerland, after being deployed there by his father-in-law to manage Ciolina Brothers which was a well known textile firm in Schipfe directly on the Limmat river.

Razing of adjacent properties (stone mill, vehicle fuel station) led to construction of the store's car park, and created new commercial space where, among other businesses, the Hiltl, the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Switzerland now exists.

The diversification of the department store group began in 1972 with the construction of Jelmoli Travel, the Molino restaurant chain, and Terlinden-Jelmoli dry cleaners.

Jelmoli Group reached its zenith in 1988 at 231 locations, 5200 employees and a gross revenue of 1471 million Swiss Francs.

In the 1990s, sales and profits were steadily declining in all department stores industry wide, part of a Swiss consumer spending change.

[8] In February 2023, SPS announced that it had decided to renovate the Jelmoli building, leading to a closure of the department store for good.