In the picturesque Ivanec on December 17, 1956, the history of Croatia recorded a revolutionary moment - the opening of the first self-service store. And not only that, but it is also believed that it was the first self-service store in the whole of Southeast Europe.

Andrija Sever, the then director of the company Ivanečki magazin (IMA), was responsible for this innovation. The idea of opening a store where people would choose the products themselves was revolutionary for the times. The People's Committee of the Municipality of Ivanec financially supported this project with the amount of 580,000 dinars at the time. Andrija Sever, together with Stjepan Putarek, developed plans and offered functional technological solutions for equipping the store, since such a concept and experience had not existed until then.

Standards that are still applied today

The sign "Self-service" above the store could be seen from afar, one door was marked as the entrance and the other as the exit. This was the beginning of setting the standard that is still applied today. The store occupied an area of only 70 square meters, and the shelves were filled exclusively with domestic products, and each product had a clearly marked price.

Travelling store

In the beginning, self-service store was open twice a day, but already in the middle of 1957, it started to work throughout the day. The first cash register was acquired. But that was not all. On February 10, 1963, Ivanečki magazin won the state primacy in trade for the second time. That was the day when, for the first time in the history of the trade of the former state, a mobile store based on the principle of serving, later known as the "Travelling", started operating.

This mobile shop tirelessly visited the surrounding villages. Bedenec Gornji, Bedenec Donji, Lančić, Punikve, Ivanečki Vrhovec, Ivanec Gornji, Salinovec, Kaniža, Voća, Belščak, Višnjica and Voća Rijeka, met the "Traveling Store" that left an indelible mark on the lives of people of that time.