|
Pao de Acucar invests
heavily in Brazil, challenges Carrefour for top position
Pao de Acucar challenges Carrefour for the top position in Brazilian commerce. The huge retailer, in which another French commerce multinational Casino has a 24 per cent share, will spend 320 million USD next year on new stores in São Paulo and other parts of this huge Latin American country. It plans to open 10 to 15 new Electro shops, 30 to 50 Barateiro discount markets and 10 Pao de Acucar supermarkets. Also 4 to 5 Extra hypermarkets are on the 2001 investment list. This will add 6,000 new workers to its labour force. The Brazilian retailer is also developing its e-commerce operations. In May, it launched its Amelia on-line shopping site, which serves São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. Next year, when new distribution centres have been set up, it will expand to Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Salvador and Fortaleza. Number two in Brazilian retailing, closely trailing Carrefour, Pao de Acucar has a total of 408 stores in 11 Brazilian States. Its 1999 sales were 7.7 billion USD, only 0.2 billion less than Carrefour's.
|
