Grocery retailing
in selected countries from Asia, Africa, and The Americas
Countries
detailed here, in the following order,
Turkey
Iran
India
Thailand
China
Taiwan
South Korea
Japan
Malaysia
Singapore
Indonesia
Philippines
Australia
Egypt
Nigeria
Uganda
Tanzania
Kenya
South Africa
Canada
USA
Mexico
Guatemala
Honduras
El Salvador
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Colombia
Brazil
Chile
Argentina
Turkey
Back to top
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
Back to top
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
Back to top
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).
The total size of
India’s retail sector is estimated at between US$ 280 billion and 400 billion
(2008). India has (2008) around 14 million
retail outlets; almost all of these are small family-owned stores known as kiranas.
Indian retailer
numbers 1993-2001 (from Managing
Retailing, p.21, 2007, Sinha et al)
|
year |
Urban retailers |
Rural retailers |
Total retailers |
|
1993 |
2,693,000 |
5,364,000 |
8,057,000 |
|
1996 |
3,074,000 |
6,633,000 |
9,707,000 |
|
1997 |
3,200,000 |
7,200,000 |
10,400,000 |
|
1998 |
3,400,000 |
7,200,000 |
11,100,000 |
|
1999 |
3,500,000 |
8,400,000 |
11,900,000 |
|
2001 |
3,700,000 |
9,000,000 |
12,700,000 |
|
2001 |
3,800,000 |
9,800,000 |
13,600,000 |
‘Modern’, or
supermarket, retailing, accounts for just 5% of the total retail market
(2008). This means the Indian retail
sector is very fragmented, lacking any dominant supermarket chains. India also lacks 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.
India’s middle-class women are increasingly entering the labour force,
and would benefit from greater access to one-stop shopping at
supermarkets. However the poor might lose. Despite also seeing lower prices (they buy
less goods than the middle class), wages and job opportunities might
shrink. About 40 million Indians work in the retail sector (2001).
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. Reliance, an indigenous Indian industrial
conglomerate, has opened 600 stores between 2006 and 2008, selling groceries
and fresh fruit and vegetables.
Aditya Birla,
another Indian company, has 500 stores under the ‘More’ fascia.
Tesco, after
failing to agree to a partnership with Bharti Enterprises, finally
(after a decade of talks) managed, in 2008, to tie up an agreement with Tata. Tesco will act as wholesaler to Tata’s
stores, and in a consultancy agreement will sell its retailing knowledge to
Tata.
In 2006 Bharti
opted to partner with Wal Mart instead.
Wal-Mart will operate 15 cash and carry stores jointly with Bharti;
these stores will supply Bharti’s retail arm, Rajan.
Germany’s Metro
Group entered India in 2003, and has two wholesale stores in Bangalore.
France’s Carrefour
chain is trying to find an Indian partner, and hopes to open four cash and
carry stores by 2009.
Thailand
Back to top
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 Back to top
General retail economy
Development of
supermarkets in China
China’s first
supermarket, the Dongguan Friendship Store, opened in 1981 in the
southern city of Dongguan (Globalisation
and the Chinese Revolution, Yong Zhen, 2007). This store was for foreigners and only
accepted foreign currency, not Yuan. The
first supermarket chain in China, for Chinese customers, began also in Dongguan
in 1990; it was called the Dongguan Meijia.
China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001, and by 2006, China was in the middle
of an explosive consumer boom – for its fortunate east-coast citizens anyway. Of China’s 1.3 billion population (2003),
only an estimated 500 million had incomes over US$ 2 per day; these 500 million
contributed 70% of China’s total GDP. In
2003, 76% of China’s retail sales were in urban areas, and 24% in rural areas.
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.
Supermarket numbers in
China
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.
Retail sales growth in
China
Retail sales in
China in 1992 were Yuan 1,000 billion.
By 2003 China’s retail sales had grown to Yuan 4,580 billion (US$
554 billion).
Retail legislation
In the 1980s
almost all foreign companies operating in China were in manufacturing (Globalisation and the Chinese Revolution,
Yong Zhen, 2007), and there were no regulations in place concerning
foreign-owned retailing. Foreign
companies whose investment in China exceeded US$ 30 million required the
approval of the State Council, and the same law applied to foreign
retailers. These foreign manufacturing
companies were mainly from Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore.
In 1992 the
Chinese State Council issued specific regulations concerning foreign retailers,
requiring approval from the Council no matter how big or small their investment
in China. Foreign retailers were allowed
only in the 11 principal cities of China, and each city could host no more than
two foreign retailers. There were also
rules on the foreign-goods content of sales by these retailers in China.
In 1997 China
decreed that foreign retailers must partner with a Chinese enterprise,
with the Chinese having a 51% share.
Throughout the 1990s
and 2000s, local Chinese governments, in places like Shanghai, have tended to
overstep their powers and be more liberal in allowing foreign retail investment
than is strictly allowed by rules from Beijing.
Retail multiples
Carrefour
1995, Carrefour
entered China
1999, Carrefour
had 23 supermarkets in China
2001,
Carrefour had 27 stores in 15 Chinese cities
2004,
Carrefour had 49 supermarkets in China.
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.
2008, Carrefour
had 112 hypermarkets in China.
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.
2009. Tesco has 71 stores in China, with 18 more
hypermarkets to open by February 2010
Wal-Mart
1992,
Wal-Mart obtained permission to enter China.
However ir did not enter until 1996, after expensive market research was
completed.
1996,
Wal-Mart entered China
1999,
Wal-Mart had 6 supermarkets in China
end-2004,
Wal-Mart had 30 Chinese supermarkets.
Independent retailers
In 1992,
China had 10 million retailers, employing 24 million people. The average of just 2.4 employees per shop
indicates a highly fragmented retail sector, with many shops employing
just 1 or 2 people. In 1997 China
had 13.5 million small retailers, with a further 1 million supermarkets and 800
department stores.
Taiwan
Back to top
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 Back to top
General retail economy
A sharp recession in the 1990s followed years of rapid growth. This recession prompted the Korean Government to open up its retailing to foreign supermarkets.
Shinsegae is the main indigenous retailer
Retail legislation
1998, South
Korea opened up its retail markets to foreign investors. Wal Mart was one of the first foreign
retailers to enter the country. The rule
that any supermarket development over 1,000 square metres required special
planning permission was relaxed in 1997; new large stores thereafter only
required registration.
Independent retailers
Until the late 1990s South Korean retailing was dominated by small independent stores, there were no supermarkets.
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
1998,
Wal-Mart entered South Korea, buying 4 stores in the Seoul area from
Makro. By end-1999, Wal-Mart had 5
stores in South Korea. Wal Mart exited
South Korea in 2006, having lost a price war with incumbent retailers, who had
the advantage of Korean purchaser patriotism.
Japan
Back to top
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. The 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 1994 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, despite further relaxation of the regulations in 2000.
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 Back to top
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
Back to top
Retail multiples
Carrefour
1999,
Carrefour had 1 supermarket in Singapore
Indonesia Back
to top
Retail multiples
Carrefour
1999,
Carrefour had 7 supermarkets in Indonesia
Philippines
Back to top
Retail legislation
Foreign retail
investors must meet a minimum equity level of US$ 7,500,000 if the operation is
to be 100% foreign owned.
Australia
Back to top
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 Back
to top
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
Back to top
General retail economy
2002, Nigeria
had 102 supermarkets.
Uganda
Back to top
General retail economy
2002, Uganda
had 1 supermarket, and some smaller-format domestic chains.
Tanzania
Back to top
General retail economy
2002,
Tanzania had 4 supermarkets, as well as some smaller-format domestic chains.
Kenya
Back to top
General retail economy
2003, Kenya
had 206 supermarkets and 10 hypermarkets.
Most of these were in the Nairobi area.
South
Africa Back to top
General retail economy
2002,
supermarkets accounted for 55% of total grocery retail sales.
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 Back
to top
Retail multiples
Wal-Mart
1994,
Wal-Mart bought the Canadian chain Woolco, acquiring 122 stores.
1999,
Wal-Mart had 166 stores in Canada
USA Back
to top
General retail economy
Total size of US grocery market, 2005, US$ 600 billion. Retail concentration; in 1980 33 supermarkets account5ed for 20% of US retail sales; in 2005 just 7 supermarkets accounted for 20% of US retail sales. 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.
Tesco,
1/2007, Tesco entered the USA, under the ‘Fresh and Easy’ fascia; the first of these was in California. However this was just before the Credit Crunch hit the USA, and then the rest of the world, severely curtailing consumers’ willingness to spend. By end 2008, expansion plans for Fresh and Easy stores had been put on hold.
2009, Tesco had 126 Fresh & Easy stores in the USA
Wal-Mart (See
also Asda)
1950 Sam
Walton purchased Harrison’s Variety Store in Bentonville, Arkansas. Mr Walton had previously learned
retail skills as a franchisee for one of Ben Franklin’s stores. He renamed the Harrison’s store as ‘Walton’s
5 & 10’, and branded the store on low prices and value for money.
1962 Sam Walton and his brother James opened the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas.
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 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; the German Ladenschlussgesetz) 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. As a result, Wal-Mart failed to reach ‘critical mass; its German operations never really gained enough economies of scale to compete with the incumbent stores.
However Wal-Mart also made its own errors. It had a boss of the German operations who spoke no German (and insisted his managers also worked in English), 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. Wal-Mart also mis-matched products to the German market; for example American pillowcases as stocked by Wal-Mart did not fit German pillows.
(Global Marketing, Svend Hollensen, 2011)
2006 Wal-Mart market share, USA, 28.8%
2009 Wal-Mart began selling coffins in the USA; undercutting the independent undertakers. They don’t (yet) do burials or cremations, but this is one step closer to the time when a person could live their entire life within a supermarket.
Wal Mart
statistics
|
Year |
No of stores worldwide |
Sales (US$ million) |
Profits (US$ million) |
employees |
|
1970 |
32 |
31 |
|
|
|
1979 |
|
1,248 |
|
|
|
1990 |
1,531 |
33,000 |
|
|
|
1996 |
2,700 |
|
|
|
|
1999 |
3,600 |
|
|
|
|
2002 |
4,000 |
|
|
1,300,000 |
|
2005 |
5,000 |
312,000 |
|
|
|
2006 |
6,600 |
|
|
1,800,000 |
|
2007 |
|
345,000 |
12,100 |
|
|
2008 |
6,900 |
|
|
1,900,000 |
International
expansion
1991, Wal-Mart
entered Mexico, partnering with a local store chain called Cifra, to
open a Sam’s Club store in Mexico City.
1992,
Wal-Mart entered Puerto Rico. In
1999 Wal-Mart had 15 stores in Puerto Rico
1994,
Wal-Mart entered Canada, purchasing 122 Woolco stores.
1995 Wal-Mart
entered Brazil, partnering with Los Americanos.
1995,
Wal-Mart entered Argentina
1996, Wal-Mart entered China, opening a store in Shenzhen. By 2004 Wal-Mart had 38 stores in China, and in 2004 opened its 39th store in the south-western city of Guiyang. Wal-Mart opened its 40th store in China in November 2004 in Wuhan. In 2006 Wal-Mart had 60 stores in China.
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 took over Asda with its 229 UK stores.
1999,
Wal-Mart entered South Korea
2004 Wal-Mart opened its first superstore in Japan, in Numazu, a seaside town south west of Tokyo
2006 Wal Mart
exited from South Korea where it had 16 stores.
2006 Wal Mart exited from Germany.
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).
2008, Whole Foods made an operating loss of £36million in the 12 months to 30 September 2008, as against a loss of £9.9m for 2006/7 (Guardian 4/8/90. This is against a background of the Credit Crunch.
Mexico Back to top
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.
2000, Cifra changed its name to Walmex (Wal-Mart de Mexico)
2001, Walmex sales in Mexico were US$ 9,700 million
Guatemala Back to top
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 Back to top
General retail economy
2002, supermarkets accounted for 43% of retail grocery sales, up from 25% in 1997.
El Salvador Back to top
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 Back to top
General retail economy
2002, supermarkets accounted for 19% of retail grocery
sales, up from 10% in 1997.
Costa Rica Back to top
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 Back to top
General retail economy
2002, supermarkets accounted for 36% of retail grocery sales.
Retail multiples
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour had 2 supermarkets in Colombia
Brazil Back to top
Retail legislation
Some restrictions on edge of town supermarket developments but fairly easy to gain planning permission.
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
2009, Wal-Mart had 348 stores in Brazil
Chile Back to top
Retail multiples
Carrefour
1999, Carrefour had 2 supermarkets in Chile
Argentina Back to top
General retail economy
In 2000, supermarkets accounted for 57% of retail grocery sales, up from 36% in 1992.
Cencosud is the main indigenous retailer (2010)
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