Walmart de México y Centroamérica (Wal-Mex) has announced in a press release plans to invest a record 18.97bn Mexican pesos (US$1.6bn) in six countries across Mexico and Central America this year.
Of that total, some 14.09bn pesos (US$1.17bn) will be invested in Mexico with the launch of 365 outlets, thereby creating 20,000 jobs and 40,000 indirect jobs in the construction industry.
A total of 4.88bn pesos (US$404m) will also be funnelled into 80 new store openings in Central America, Wal-Mex’s CEO Scot Rank revealed in meeting held with Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, at the presidential residence.
The move will increase the retailer’s sales floor space by 12.2 per cent in Mexico, and 8.8 per cent throughout the five countries where it operates in Central America.
“Never before have we invested such a large amount of resources in a single year, and it is proof of our commitment to and confidence in Mexico,” said Mr Rank.
“Many Mexicans with scarce resources pay very high prices for their food, clothing and household goods. With the investment we are announcing, we can take products at affordable prices to more families, many of which live in remote areas of the country,” he added.
Mr Rank also explained how the construction of new stores in Mexico and Central America will open up new opportunities to thousands of suppliers.
“Today we have over 20,000 suppliers in Mexico – 60 per cent of which are SMEs – from whom we purchased over 260bn pesos (US$21.5bn) in 2010. This figure will undoubtedly be higher in 2011 and with that we will assist Mexico’s industrial plant and its workers.”
In 2010, Wal-Mex invested 13.1bn pesos (US$1.08bn) in the opening of 297 units – 267 in Mexico and 30 in Central America.
During the same year, sales totalled 334.51bn pesos (US$27.7bn), a 24.2 per cent increase against 2009.
Wal-Mex currently operates 1,743 stores in Mexico and 551 outlets in Central America including hypermarkets, supermarkets, discount stores and warehouses, among other formats.
