Shopping Centers Today

MAY 2012

Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/62026

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 215 of 251

across Mexico as well as Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guate- mala, Honduras and Panama. Wendy's returned to Argentina GAP OPENED ITS FIRST STORE IN PANAMA LAST MONTH IN ALBROOK MALL. be silly if they didn't." Gap Inc. tested these waters in 2010 by selling to customers in Chile, Colom- bia and Panama over the Web. The re- sponse was so good that last month the company opened its first Gap and Ba- nana Republic stores in Panama, at Al- brook Mall, through Panamanian fran- chise holder Superior Retail. Further, Superior Retail will be opening Gap's stores in Colombia this year, and Gap says units are planned also for Peru and Uruguay over the next two years. "We believe substantial opportunity exists in Latin America, and our first stores in Chile, Panama and Colombia will allow us to establish a foundation for further growth in this region," said Stephen Sunnucks, president of Gap Inc.'s international division, last Oc- tober in a prepared statement. Other recent arrivals, too, enjoy reputations that precede them, thanks to cable TV, the Internet and increased travel to the U.S. Among them is Office Depot de Mexico (a partnership between Office Depot and Mexico's Gigante Group), which set up shop in Colombia in 2009 and now operates about 200 units 216 SCT / MAY 2012 in January with one restaurant, its first there since leaving a decade ago, after an unsuccessful initial ef- fort. Wendy's has announced plans for 50 restaurants within 10 years. Another food chain, The Panda Ex- press, opened its first Mexico unit last September through a franchise operated by Gigante Group. Now still others are venturing into Latin America. Victoria's Se- cret opened its fifth Venezuela store in January and is set to open a store in Sambil Santo Domingo, a new mall in the Dominican Republic, in October. Victoria's Secret parent Limited Brands, which already operates its La Senza lingerie chain in some Latin American markets, is reportedly plan- ning to bring other brands to the region. Retailers are drawn by the lack of competition in Latin America, says Ar- turo Sneider, founding partner of Los Angeles–based Primestor Development, which helps retailers identify new mar- kets. Retail space in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico runs to less than 1 square meter per capita, according to various sources, compared with about 4 square meters per capita in the U.S. Latin America has overcome a ma- jor hurdle: the once firmly held idea that going global meant going first to China and then Brazil, says Scott Harris, a global retail real estate consultant with ex- perience in Latin America. "For smaller markets like Chile," said Harris, "despite the extremely reliable fiscal, legal and political environ- ments, and even though all the major shopping center companies are highly pro- fessional and offer first-class shopping centers, the rela- tively small market size was a concern to some retailers." U.S. retailers are now savvier about local markets, being careful to offer fashion that is seasonal. Last year Gap opened its first Latin America store out- side Puerto Rico in the Parque Arauco mall, in Santiago, Chile, where summer comes during the U.S. winter. The com- pany says it will open other stores there through a franchise agreement with Ko- max, a Chilean retail company that also handles Brooks Brothers, The North Face and other brands. Rent-A-Center, a furniture and electronics rent-to-own chain with headquarters in Plano, Texas, is glanc- ing southward too. "Looking for op- portunities that move the needle for Rent-A-Center, we decided on Mexico not only because of its proximity to the U.S., but [also] for boasting a big and resilient economy with a considerable number of consumers who value the flexibility of our rent-to-own transac- tion," said Agustín Viola-Prioli, vice president of international business de- velopment. The company opened its first Mexico store in October 2010 in Reynosa, a border city in north Tam- aulipas. The response was such that by the end of last year, the chain had 54 stores in Mexico and rolled out five more during the first two months of this year. The original business plan had called for opening 25 stores this year, but that has been doubled to about 50. SCT THERE IS ROOM FOR 1,000 STORES IN MEXICO.

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Shopping Centers Today - MAY 2012