Grocery retailing
in selected countries from Asia, Africa, and The Americas
Turkey
General
retail economy
In the wealthier
west of the country, in urban areas, supermarkets account for 50% (2005) of
grocery sales.
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour
had 32 supermarkets in Turkey
Tesco
2003, Tesco
entered Turkey, buying a majority stake in the Kipa chain with 5 stores.
2005/6, Tesco
sales were £182 million; profits were £6 million.
Iran
General
retail economy
Iran has a
fragmented food supply chain because individual retailers and suppliers
negotiate contracts, there is no consolidation of the supply chain and so
economies of scale are lacking.
Retail
multiples
2008,
Carrefour is building a supermarket on the outskirts of Tehran, near the Azadi
sports stadium, a middle-class area.
Carrefour plans a further 20 hypermarkets for Iran by 2028.
India
General
retail economy
India, with its
large, young, and growing population, presents an attractive target for
expanding supermarket chains, especially from other less-developed
countries. India is attractive to
foreign retailers demographically and perhaps economically, but not
legally Foreign companies looking to
invest in India also face major regulatory hurdles (see Retail legislation
below).
India has (2004)
around 5 million retail outlets; one per 200 people. This is a similar ratio to the UK in the
1950s, before the arrival of the supermarkets.
This means the Indian retail sector is very fragmented, lacking any
dominant supermarket chains. India also
lacks (2004) any major wholesale or distribution chains, despite being home to
one sixth of the world’s population. The
Indian government was also keen on opening up its food retailing sector [to large
Western supermarkets] but the government has been forced to backtrack so what
after protests from small shopkeepers (The Times, 20/3/2007, p.52). One protest was attended by 20,000 small
shopkeepers.
In 1999 India’s
first supermarket, called Crossroads, opened in Mumbai.
The Economist (31
May 2008, p.80/82) makes the case for India to allow foreign retailers into its
territory.
1) Low income
households would benefit. Where they
have access to supermarkets they shop cannily, buying discount items and
loss-leaders but staying loyal to small shopkeepers for the bulk of their
purchases.
2) The
small-shopkeeper sector in India seems robust at present, and on current trends
will still have 85% of the retail market in 2013.
3) The opening of a
supermarket nearby does reduce local small shops trade by about a quarter, but
this recovers and, says The Economist, is back to pre-supermarket levels within
5 years.
4) Opening a
supermarket nearby forces small shopkeepers to become more efficient, and some small
shops even hire more staff for home delivery services. ‘Only 1.7% of [India’s] small shops close
each year’, says The Economist (ibid).
Small shopkeepers could join in co-operatives to gain buying power (but
this could pass downwards price pressure back up the food chain onto India’s
already-poor farmers).
The opposing
argument is that if India opened its grocery retail market fully to foreign
supermarkets, low income families might initially gain on price but could lose
the opportunity to use local small shops, if the closure rate of these
accelerated from its present (2008) 1.7% a year. With small shops gone, the supermarkets could
offer less loss-leaders and discounts. Some
families could be left in an Indian version of a ‘food desert’. And whilst shoppers might gain, there could
be large employment losses in the retail sector. Economics says there should be net welfare
gains from supermarket liberalisation in India, but the social equity question
of how these gains are distributed, who are the losers, and how if at all they
are compensated is less clear.
In social
redistribution terms India’s middle class would certainly gain from grocery
retail liberalisation, seeing lower prices, whilst likely being in jobs that
would not be threatened by such liberalisation…However the poor might
lose. Despite also seeing lower prices
(they buy less goods than the middle class), wages and job opportunities might
shrink. The question then is, how big
India’s middle class, and ‘poor’ class is.
It is estimated that (2007) India still has 600 million people living on
under £1 (1.95 US$) a day, many in the rural economy that would be pressurised
by large supermarkets. The middle class
may number 300 million (2007), if it is defined as those with an income over
US$ 2,000 a year. A narrower definition,
used by the National Council of Applied Economics Research, puts the income bar
at US$ 4,400, giving a ‘middle class’ of just 58 million (The Economist, 15
April 2006). Politics, not economics,
may ultimately decide the day, and India has a strong Left-wing lobby.
Retail
legislation
India presents a
difficult regulatory environment for foreign supermarkets. Foreigners cannot invest in retailing, unless
it is in a single-brand store, when they can own up to 51% (The Economist, 31
May 2008, p.80/82). This allows in
stores like Reebok but debars Carrefour.
Retailers like Carrefour and Wal-Mart, who are keen on entering the
Indian market, must form joint-ventures with domestic Indian companies (Sunday
Telegraph, 11 March 2007). Even once in,
retailers must overcome a thicket of regulations, and pay taxes to move goods
out of some states, into others, or even within some states.
Retail
multiples
Indian domestic
supermarket chains include Reliance and Bharti.
Thailand
General
retail economy
In 2002 six
global retail chains – Ahold (Netherlands), Carrefour (France), Casino
(France), Food Lion (Belgium), Makro (Netherlands), and Tesco (UK), were
seeking to gain a foothold in Thailand.
Retail
legislation
2007, the
Thai government was considering passing legislation that would make it harder
for foreign retailers to expand there.
Proposals were for regional Thai governors to be able to make
recommendations to a central agency (The Retail and Wholesale Supervision
Committee) which in turn could accept or reject proposed new supermarkets;
penalties for contravening this agency’s rulings would be 3 years in prison or
fines of 3 million Baht (£46,000).
Conditions in the Bangkok Hilton fall just a little short of those at
Tesco’s head office in Cuffley, Hertfordshire.
Tesco has faced
resistance to its expansion in Thailand since a military coup in the country in
late 2006.
Independent
retailers
2007, The
Thai government claimed 100,000 small shops have been forced to close since 1997
due to the expansion of foreign supermarkets.
Thailand was heavily reliant on traditional open-air street markets for
groceries, and summer temperatures reached 30C.
Shoppers liked the idea of air conditioned supermarkets, but small
shopkeepers were not so keen.
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour
had 10 supermarkets in Thailand
Tesco
1997, Tesco
entered Thailand. It bought the
13-strong Lotus supermarket chain. By 2001
Tesco had 24 hypermarkets in Thailand.
2005/6, Tesco
sales were £1,087 million; profits were £66 million.
2006, Tesco
was market leader with 73 hypermarkets and 144 other stores in Thailand.
China
General
retail economy
In 2006, is in the
middle of an explosive consumer boom – for its fortunate east-coast citizens
anyway. Wal-Mart and Carrefour have entered the Chinese grocery market.
China had 2,500
supermarkets in 1994. This number grew
to 21,000 in 1998 and 40,500 in 2001.
The share of retailing taken by supermarkets has grown from 0.18% in
1994 to 3.43% in 1998 and 8.2% in 2001.
Foreign supermarkets
now (2006) account for 23% of the sales of the top 100 food retailers in China,
although these top 100 account for a far smaller total share than the myriad of
small shops and market stalls most Chinese still buy their foodstuffs from.
Stores like Wal-Mart
are venturing further inland, not least to escape soaring rents and
intensifying competition. Here, they may
find interesting local purchasing preferences which they must cater to, to
survive – a preference for extremely rough toilet paper in Zhejiang, or a
liking for whole pig’s faces steamed, sliced, and dipped in sauce at the table
in Shandong.
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1992, Carrefour
entered China
1999, Carrefour
had 23 supermarkets in China
end-2004,
Carrefour had 49 supermarkets in China.
12/2007,
Carrefour had 387 stores in China
2008,
Carrefour became embroiled in the ‘Tibet independence question’ after a
pro-Tibet protestor in Paris tried to snatch the Olympic Flame during its round
the world tour before the Beijing Olympics, 2008. Pro-Chinese (anti-Tibet-independence)
protestors shouted slogans against Carrefour and tried to dissuade customers
from entering the store in various Chinese cities including Changsha, Fuzhou,
Xian, and Shenyang (Eurofood, 14/5/2008, p.16).
The Chinese government reiterated its support for Carrefour. Carrefour has 112 hypermarkets in China
(2008).
Tesco
Tesco entered
China in 2004 by buying a share in the multiple Hymall.
By the end of 2004
Tesco had 29 supermarkets in north and east China, including 11 in
Shanghai.
2006, Tesco
has 39 stores in a joint venture with Ting Hsing.
In 2007 Tesco
opened a store under the Tesco fascia in south-eastern Beijing. By 2007 Tesco also owned 90% of the Hymall
chain, of 46 stores, all of which were 92007) soon to be re-fascia-ed as Tesco
stores.
2008, Tesco
opened its first ‘Express’ format store in China, in Shanghai.
Wal-Mart
1999,
Wal-Mart had 6 supermarkets in China
end-2004, Wal-Mart
had 30 Chinese supermarkets.
Taiwan
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1989, Carrefour
entered Taiwan
1999, Carrefour
had 23 supermarkets in Taiwan
Tesco
2000, Tesco
entered Taiwan, buying 1 store there.
2005, Tesco
pulled out of Taiwan, having opened 4 stores there.
South Korea
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour
had 15 stores in South Korea
Tesco
1999, Tesco
entered South Korea.
2005/6, Tesco
sales were £2,133 million; profits were £129 million.
2006, Tesco
has 55 stores, including 36 hypermarkets, in a joint venture with Samsung.
Wal-Mart
1999, Wal-Mart
entered South Korea, buying 4 stores from Makro. By end-1999, Wal-Mart had 5 stores in South
Korea.
Japan
General
retail economy
In 2003 and 2004, both Tesco and Wal Mart entered the
Japanese grocery retail market, see Part II of this site, ‘supermarket time
lines and store numbers’ – Tesco, 7/2003 and 4/2004, and Wal Mart, 2004. Nevertheless, the Japanese way of life may
not be so favourable to supermarkets as it is in Europe or North America.
Japanese houses are much smaller, so the model of a large weekly or fortnightly
supermarket shop may not work as many people would have nowhere to store all
this food. Japan also has a rapidly ageing population, certainly more aged than
in the USA; in 2020 34 million of its 127 million people will be aged 65 or
over (Guardian, 1/6/04, p.15), and many Japanese women shop more traditionally,
walking or cycling to a local mall of small shops several times a week.
Japanese housewives are often very thrifty, especially in
the early years of marriage when total family earnings have not yet risen to
their peak level, savings have not yet been built up, and there are children to
raise. This thriftiness may work against supermarket penetration, because
shoppers like to shop around for bargains, also for freshness, and like to
visit many small shops to achieve this. However (Guardian, 1/6/04, p.15) in a
popular magazine for young Japanese married women, Sutekina Okusan, it
said that daily shopping may tempt people to spend more than they could afford
on items they didn’t need, and the chance to go shopping just once a fortnight
at a large supermarket might help cut out this temptation. Time will tell which
viewpoint is right.
Retail
legislation
Japan has a very restrictive regime on large shops. Their Large Scale Retail Stores Law (LSRSL),
enacted in 1973, required retailers to notify public officials of their
intention to build any new store with a floor space of greater than 500 square
metres. This has greatly hampered the
expansion of the supermarkets (Kuwahara, 1997, p.112). Japanese retailing remains dominated by small
stores, and 53% of Japanese retailers have two or less employees. The LSRSL was relaxed in response to the
Heisei recession of 1990, when Japanese stocks and land prices fell sharply,
but this recession has continued through into the 21st century and
up till 2003 Japan has seen no boom in supermarkets.
Retail
multiples
1960s, 70s Seiyu and Daiei were the leading multiple
retailers in Japan. Daiei dominated the
Kansai region (Osaka and Kobe). Seiyu
was mainly in the Kanto region (Tokyo).
Tesco
2003, Tesco entered Japan.
2005/6, Tesco
sales were £300 million; profits were £12 million.
2006, Tesco
operates over 100 small-format stores in Japan.
Wal-Mart
3/2002, Wal-Mart entered Japan, buying a 6.1%
share of the Seiyu retailer. This stake was progressively raised until by
12/2005 Wal-Mart owned a majority of Seiyu.
Malaysia
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour
had 6 supermarkets in Malaysia
2000, France’s Carrefour chain was the only major European
retail multiple in Malaysia.
Tesco
In 2000 Tesco announced plans to open 20 stores
in Malaysia, the first one to open its doors in 2002.
2005/6, Tesco
sales were £151 million, losses were
£1 million
2006, Tesco has
10 hypermarkets and three supermarkets in Malaysia.
Singapore
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1999,
Carrefour had 1 supermarket in Singapore
Indonesia
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1999,
Carrefour had 7 supermarkets in Indonesia
Australia
General
retail economy
The retail grocery
market is dominated by Woolworths and the Coles Group.
Retail
multiples
Aldi
6/2004, Aldi
had 70 stores in Australia
Egypt
Retail
multiples
Sainsbury
Sainsbury set
up a supermarket in Cairo in 1999, and by 2000 had expanded to seven
supermarkets across Egypt, as well as an 80% holding in an Egyptian supermarket
chain, Edge. However when the
Palestinian ‘Intifada’(uprising) began across the border in Israel, Sainsbury
was perceived as too pro-western by Egyptian customers and was forced to pull
out of the country. Egyptian religious
leaders had spoken out against Sainsbury for threatening the livelihood of
small Egyptian shopkeepers.
Nigeria
General
retail economy
2002, Nigeria
had 102 supermarkets.
Uganda
General
retail economy
2002, Uganda
had 1 supermarket, and some smaller-format domestic chains.
Tanzania
General
retail economy
2002,
Tanzania had 4 supermarkets, as well as some smaller-format domestic chains.
Kenya
General
retail economy
2003, Kenya
had 206 supermarkets and 10 hypermarkets.
Most of these were in the Nairobi area.
South Africa
General
retail economy
In 2002,
supermarkets accounted for 55% of total grocery retail sales.
In 2002, 4 multiples
took 90% of the total supermarket sales.
The Shoprite/Checkers chain and the PnP chain had 40% each; Spar and
Woolworth had 5% each.
Retail
multiples
Shoprite
Shoprite / Checkers
began with 8 stores in 1979. In the
1980s Shoprite consisted of ‘a few tatty stores in Cape Town (Economist,
15/1/2005, p.64). Its first venture
outside South Africa was to take over a French-owned chain in Madagascar, and
to open a store in Mauritius.
In 2002 Shoprite /
Checkers consisted of 294 Shoprite supermarkets, 19 Checkers hypermarkets, and
41 fast food outlets, as well as furniture stores and financial services sales
outlets.
In 2005, Shoprite
also had stores in Botswana, Egypt, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique,
Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, (the latter doing
badly because of the economic slump under the Mugabe regime)..
In December 2004 Shoprite
opened a large store in Mumbai, India.
Shoprite, January
2005, was the biggest supermarket in Africa.
Shoprite positions
itself at the lower end of the market, adopting a ‘pile it high and sell
it cheap’ strategy.
Shoprite (2005)
had 700 stores in 16 countries, and 63,000 employees.
Canada
Retail
multiples
Wal-Mart
1994,
Wal-Mart bought the Canadian chain Woolco, acquiring 122 stores.
1999,
Wal-Mart had 166 stores in Canada
USA
General
retail economy
Like Canada and Australia, the USA has had to respond to a
food poverty problem amongst poor White people, ethnic minorities, and (especially
in rural areas) the indigenous aboriginal population.
The Economist
(22/12/2007, pp.104-106) described a phenomenon that many consumers outside the
USA may find remarkable– the decline of the suburban shopping mall. Perhaps the
first ‘mall’ in America was at Southdale, Minnesota – which predates the
‘Arndales’ that appeared in many UK city centres during the 1960s and 70s. Southdale opened in 1956 and by the 1960s the
flight of White middle-class consumers from US city centres created a demand
for these malls as replicas of the downtown centres these consumers had left
behind – but in a perceived safer, more
affluent, setting. Now (2007), the
suburbs are perceived as dangerous, ridden with youth crime and poverty. The US malls are being squeezed from both
sides – by the huge, low-priced, superstores on the very edge of town, and by a
middle-class revival of city-centre living, taking trade back to the downtown
area.
Construction of malls in the US has stuttered almost to a
halt and existing malls are closing, in part or entirely. As similar urban living trends to the US
emerge in the UK, British malls must watch with trepidation.
Total size of US
grocery market, 2005, US$ 600 billion.
In 2002,
supermarkets had an overall share of 70% of grocery retailing.
2006, top 10 US grocery chains (source, ‘Tescopoly’, A
Simms, 2007, p.58)
1) Wal-Mart, 2,089 stores
2) Kroger, 2,501 stores
3) Alberstons, 1,765 stores
4) Safeways, 1,540 stores
5) Ahold, 824 stores,
6) Publix, 876 stores
7) Dalhaize, 1,544 stores
8) H E Butt, 272 stores
9) Supervalu, 619 stores
10) Winn-Dixie, 563 stores
Retail
multiples
7/11
2005, 7/11 had
5,305 stores, turnover was US$ 7,200 million
Aldi
1976, Aldi opened
its first store in the USA, in Iowa
2005, Aldi has
800 stores in the USA, across 25 states.
2005, Aldi was expanding in southeast Michigan,
opening shops in impoverished Detroit, an area abandoned by many grocery
retailers.
2007, Aldi had
800 stores in the USA.
Carrefour
1988, Carrefour
entered the USA. After suffering losses
of US$ 80 million, and failing to gain enough retail capacity to compete,
Carrefour sold its 2 hypermarkets in 1993, but kept a stake in Costco.
Couche-tard
2005, Couche-tard
had 2,855 stores; turnover was US$ 1,600 million
Kroger
2005, Kroger had
795 stores, turnover was US$ 2,000 million
Tesco,
1/2007, Tesco entered
the USA, under the ‘Fresh and Easy’
fascia; the first of these was in California.
Wal-Mart (See
also Asda)
1962 Sam Walton and his brother James opened the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers,
Arkansas.
1991,
Wal-mart entered Mexico
1994,
Wal-Mart entered Canada
1995 Wal-Mart
entered Brazil
1996,
Wal-Mart entered China, opening a store in Shenzhen.
12/1997,
Wal-Mart entered Germany, buying an upmarket chain, Wertkauf, and another
chain, Inter-spar. See 2006 for
reasons for exit from Germany.
1999,
Wal-Mart entered South Korea
1999 Wal-Mart had 3,600 stores in 9 countries, including
95 in Germany, and took over Asda
with its 229 UK stores.
2003 Wal-Mart was the world’s biggest corporation, with 1,700 stores worldwide and 1.2
million employees in the USA alone.
2004 Wal-Mart opened its first superstore in Japan, in Numazu, a seaside town south
west of Tokyo (Guardian 1/6/04, p.15). Wal-Mart has 5,000 stores worldwide, across 10
countries.
7/2004, Wal-Mart opened
its 39th store in China. It was in the south-western city of Guiyang.
11/2004, Wal-Mart
opened its 40th store in China,
in Wuhan
11/2005, Wal-Mart
has nearly 5,000 stores in 15 countries.
2006 Wal Mart
exited from South Korea where it had 16 stores.
2006 Wal Mart
had 60 stores in China
2006 Wal Mart exited from Germany. This
cost the company US$863 million.
Wal-Mart had suffered nine consecutive years of losses on its German
operation, of 85 hypermarkets. The
company was not used to having a major chain, Aldi, undercut its position as
cheapest retailer, and it misunderstood the German consumer culture. For example it had greeters at al its stores
to smile at all visitors, which antagonised German shoppers
2006, Wal-Mart
announced a 26% drop in 2nd quarter year-on-year earnings to
US$2,080 million, (UK£ 1,100million), largely due to a US$ 863 million write
off consequent on its exit from Germany
(see 1997) (Guardian, 16/8/06, p.21, Daily Mail 29/7/06, p.69). Its 85 German
stores were sold to Metro, who will
add them to its existing chain of 288 ‘Real’ stores. Wal-Mart blamed strict
German labour laws, and very limited shopping hours (short weekdays, no Sunday
shopping at all) making it hard to operate its ‘high volume-low-cost business
model’ and weak consumer sentiment in Germany. There was ‘fierce competition’
from three incumbent discounters; Lidl, Aldi, and Kaufland. However Wal-Mart also made its own errors (The Economist, 5/8/06, p.54). It had a
boss of the German operations who spoke no German, followed by a boss who ran
the German operations from England. Wal-Mart’s German supply infrastructure was
fragmented and costly, and it had too few German stores to achieve worthwhile
economies of scale. Wal-Mart also failed to anticipate the German consumer’s
preference for choosing their own goods, un-molested by cheery shop assistants
at their elbows.
2006, Wal-Mart
has 6,600 stores worldwide. Wal-Mart has 1.8 million employees worldwide,
including 1.3 million in the US. The US accounts for some 80% of Wal-Mart’s
sales. The company currently operates in 13 countries; Canada, the USA, Mexico,
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina,
China (30,000 employees here), Japan, and the UK.
2007, Wal Mart
reported profits of US$12.1 billion in the year to February, and sales of
US$345 billion.
2008 Wal Mart has
4,000US stores and 2,900 non US stores.
It employs 1,900,000 staff.
However declining
consumer sentiment especially at home in the US, itself due to rising fuel
prices, rising interest rates, a stagnation or even possible fall in house
prices, and concerns over employment, may have led consumers to rein in their
purchasing. Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, also did not help consumer spending. US
shoppers to Wal-Mart appeared to be consolidating their spending, spending more
per visit but visiting the store less often, cutting back on ‘top-up’ visits.
In the UK, Wal-Mart’s subsidiary, Asda, has ‘come under pressure from a
resurgent Sainsbury’ (Guardian, ibid),
and has failed to capture market share from the (locally) larger Tesco. On the
positive side, the World Cup boosted
sales of food and football-related merchandise such as clothing; Wal-Mart’s
sales in Brazil, Central America, and Japan were strong.
Wal-Mart market share, USA, 2006, 28.8%
Whole Foods
Began in Austin, Texas, in 1980, as the ‘Saferway’ vegetarian shop
1988 Saferway
became Whole Foods when it acquired a new Orleans natural foods store also
called Whole Food. Further acquisitions
by Whole Foods followed.
2004 Bought the
UK chain Fresh and Wild – see ‘UK supermarkets and timelines’.
2007, Whole Foods
has 195 stores, with annual sales of US$ 5.6 billion (UK£ 2.8 billion).
Central America
General
retail economy
In 2002, supermarkets accounted for 36% of retail grocery
sales.
Mexico
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour
had 17 stores in Mexico
Wal-Mart
1991, Wal-Mart
opened a Sam’s Club supermarket in Mexico City.
Further expansion in Mexico was delayed by the Mexican
economic crisis.
1998, Wal-Mart
acquired a majority stake in Cifra.
1999, Wal-Mart
had 458 stores in Mexico, and a 53% stake in Cifra.
Puerto Rico
Retail
multiples
Wal-Mart
1999, Wal-Mart
had 15 stores in Puerto Rico
Guatemala
General
retail economy
In 2002, supermarkets accounted for 35% of retail grocery
sales, up from 15% in 1994 and 25% in 1997.
Retail
multiples
La Fragua
has 46% of the supermarket share in Guatemala, under a
variety of fascias including Supermercados Paiz and HiperPaiz.
Honduras
General
retail economy
2002, supermarkets accounted for 43% of retail grocery
sales, up from 25% in 1997.
El Salvador
General
retail economy
In 2002, 2 chains, Superselectos and La Fragua, each had 55 supermarkets,
plus smaller-format outlets. Overall
(2002) supermarkets accounted for 37% of retail grocery sales, up from 34% in
1997.
Nicaragua
General
retail economy
2002, supermarkets accounted for 19% of retail grocery
sales, up from 10% in 1997.
Costa Rica
Retail
multiples
Megasuper
The Megasuper
chain has 15% market share (2002).
Overall, supermarkets accounted for 50% of retail grocery sales in 2002,
up from 45% in 1997.
Colombia
General
retail economy
2002, supermarkets accounted for 36% of retail grocery
sales.
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour
had 2 supermarkets in Colombia
Brazil
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1975, Carrefour
entered Brazil, buying Ultracenter
in Sao Paulo state.
1999, Carrefour
had 193 stores in Brazil generating sales of US$ 4.3 billion.
Pao de Agucar
A consortium of five retailers, serving mainly an upmarket
customer base.
1999, Pao de
Agucar had 285 stores, and annual sales of US$ 3.7 billion.
Sendas
Begun by a Portuguese migrant in the 1920s in Rio de
Janiero.
1995, Sendas had
40 supermarkets in Brazil.
1999, Sendas had
73 supermarkets and annual sales of US$ 1.1 billion
Wal-Mart
1995, Wal-Mart
entered Brazil. It set up a Sam’s Club
outlet in 1995 in Sao Caetano, a less-affluent area near Rio de Janeiro.
1999, Wal-Mart
had 14 supermarkets in Brazil
Chile
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour
had 2 supermarkets in Chile
Argentina
General
retail economy
In 2000, supermarkets accounted for 57% of retail grocery
sales, up from 36% in 1992.
Retail
multiples
Carrefour
1982, Carrefour
entered Argentina
1999, Carrefour
had 300 stores in Argentina.
12/2007, Carrefour
had 557 stores in Argentina
Wal-Mart
1999, Wal-Mart
had 13 supermarkets in Argentina
General
retail economy
Retail
legislation
Independent
retailers
Retail
multiples
Named multiples