Wal-Mart heads off rivals in small town Mexico]
Wal-Mart is stepping up its expansion strategy in Mexico to focus on smaller towns in a move that could help it gobble up more of the fragmented retail market, despite new offensives by competitors.
This week the huge retailer, known as Walmex (WALMEXV.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) in Mexico, said it boosted its expansion program to open 90 new stores this year, 20 more than first planned, an increase of 14 percent in sales floor space, much of it outside major cities.
The additional 20 stores were already included in the company’s 2005 capital expenditures program of 8.2 billion pesos, or about $764 million, UBS said on Friday.
“They had not disclosed this to the market earlier because the stores were part of a test involving the launch of smaller Bodegas and Supercenters to serve smaller cities,” UBS said in a report after consulting with company executives.
“The company has been very happy with the profitability shown by the prototypes of the smaller stores, which led them to officially add those to their 2005 expansion program.”
Officials at Walmex, owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), declined to comment to Reuters.
More: today.reuters.com
Hurricane bashes Mexico resorts, heads for US border
Hurricane Emily slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula on Monday, smashing hotels and homes in the main resort areas and halting all of Mexico's oil exports before heading back to sea for a new strike toward the U.S. border.
Tens of thousands of locals and tourists along the popular "Maya Riviera" coastline of white beaches and blue-green seas rode out winds of 135 mph (215 kph) and torrential rain in makeshift shelters.
Several people died in Mexico in incidents indirectly caused by the powerful storm, which killed at least four in Jamaica.
Emergency workers in Tamaulipas state
Wal-Mart and Li ka-Shing seen key to Mexico port expansion
Top retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Hong Kong magnate Li ka-Shing are key players in a $300 million expansion of Mexico's Pacific port of Lazaro Cardenas aimed at ensuring goods reach U.S. shelves, according to the U.S. railroad that serves the port.
"Wal-Mart and other retailers are looking for backup routes so that even if some ports face stoppages they have reliable backups," Michael Haverty, chief executive of Kansas City Southern , told Reuters at KCS headquarters here in a recent interview.
As part of current plans, he added, Wal-Mart may build a
Mexico top retailers say Nov. same-store sales fell
Mexico's top retailers' group ANTAD said on Thursday its members' same-store sales fell 0.4 percent in November, as market leader Wal-Mart de Mexico again rolled over its rivals.
The National Association of Supermarkets and Department Stores, ANTAD, which includes about 100 of the country's main retailers, said members' total sales for November rose 8.3 percent from November 2004.
That increase was due largely to an increase in sales floor space of 11.8 percent among members. Same store sales, which measure performance only a stores open at least a year, are seen as the best
Mexico's Bolsa Rises to Record, Led by Walmex: Latin Stocks
Mexico's benchmark stock index rose to a record for a third day, led by retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico SA, on expectations that oil revenue will sustain growth in Latin America's biggest economy.
The Mexican Bolsa rose 120.64, or 0.8 percent, to 15,151.26 at 12:40 New York time. Wal-Mart de Mexico, Latin America's biggest retailer, rose for a fifth day in six as Chief Executive Eduardo Solorzano elaborated on the company's expansion plans in a speech to investors in New York.
The Bolsa is gaining because of global demand for the
Mexican retail powerhouse Wal-Mart de Mexico, or Walmex, posted 34 percent growth in net profit for the third quarter on Friday as aggressive expansion and cost savings fueled growth.
Walmex (WALMEXV.MX: Quote, Profile, Research), a unit of No. 1 global retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), reported a net profit of 2.001 billion pesos ($186 million) for the quarter.
Walmex has used aggressive expansion and low prices to become the dominant retailer in Mexico's fragmented market with more than 700 stores and restaurants.
It said quarterly sales rose 14.7 percent to 38.658 billion pesos year on year. Same-stores sales, which
Mexico leftist knocks Fox in conservative heartland
Left-wing Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lashed out at conservative rivals on their home turf on Saturday by saying President Vicente Fox betrayed the hopes of millions.
Lopez Obrador, leading opinion polls by up to 10 points, told a rally in the central town of Guanajuato that Fox failed to deliver the strong economic growth he promised. That has forced record numbers of Mexicans to emigrate illegally to the United States, he said.
"I am not going to betray the people. I am not going to let people down, I am not the same
Mexican retail powerhouse Wal-Mart de Mexico, or Walmex, posted 28 percent growth in net profit for the second quarter on Thursday as expansion and cost savings fueled growth.
Walmex (WALMEXV.MX: Quote, Profile, Research), a unit of No. 1 global retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), reported a net profit of 1.95 billion pesos ($181 million) for the period, compared with 1.52 billion pesos a year earlier.
Net profit for the first half of the year reached 3.801 billion pesos. Walmex has used aggressive expansion and low prices to become the dominant retailer in Mexico's fragmented market.
More: today.reuters.com
Teotitlan del Camino, en route to Oaxaca, is a glaringly bright town with a military base. Vehicles are stopped occasionally; make sure, if driving, that your papers are in order. From Teotitlan it is possible to drive into the hills to the Indian town of Huautla de Jimenez, where the local Mazatec Indians consume the hallucinogenic 'magic' mushrooms made famous by Dr Timothy Leary. Huautla has all four seasons of the year in each day; springlike mornings; wet, foggy afternoons; fresh, autumn evenings; and freezing nights. Hiking in the mountains here is worthwhile. There is the hotel Oh'mpico, E, above
Two small quakes rattle along California-Mexico border
Two small earthquakes rattled just south of the U.S.-Mexico border Friday, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.
Two magnitude-3.3 temblors struck at 4:21 p.m. and 4:49 p.m. centered about 19 miles south-southeast of the border city of Calexico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A dispatcher at the Imperial County Sheriff's Department said she had received no reports of injury or damage from either quake.
More: mercurynews.com
Mexicos Walmex April same-store sales up 9.9 pct
Leading Mexican retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico, or Walmex, said on Tuesday its same-store sales rose 9.9 percent in April, compared with a year earlier.
Walmex (WALMEXV.MX: Quote, Profile, Research), controlled by U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), said total sales for the month were 14.966 billion pesos ($1.37 billion), up nearly 21 percent from the same month last year.
Same-store sales measure revenues only at stores open at least a year and are seen as the best performance indicator.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a 9 percent increase as sales
