Wal-Mart in $1-billion Brazilian expansion as US slows down

14 August 2008

Faced with a slowdown in the US, the world's largest retailer the Fortune 500 top-ranking Wal-Mart Stores Inc, is planning a $1-billion investment  in in Brazil, its largest investment in the country since it opened its first store in 1995.

The announcement was made when Wal-Mart's president and CEO of Brazilian operations, Héctor Núñez along with president and CEO for the Americas, Craig Herkert, and the vice chairman and international president and CEO, Michael Duke, met Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazilla.

Wal-Mart, Brazil's third-largest retailer operates 318 stores in the country with a local workforce of 70,000. The expansion is expected to add another 9,000 to Wal-Mart's workforce in the country.

The expansion plans for 2009 aims at opening around 80 to 90 new stores --- an increase of 28 per cent --- of all the nine brands and different formats it operates in the country. The different brands are Hypermarkets BIG, Wal-Mart and Hiper Bompreço, the supermarkets Nacional, Mercadorama, Bompreço and Todo Dia (soft discount) and the wholesalers Maxxi (cash and carry) and Sam's Club.

The announcement of the planned expansion comes one week after the retailer said US sales will probably slow down below expectations this month.

The company has  expanded in the country by acquiring several local chains including BIG and Bom Preco. It now operates in 17 Brazilian states under the store names Wal-Mart, Bom-Preco, BIG, Mercadorama, Nacional, Todo-Dia, Sam's Club, and Maxxi.