After investing $3 million, the Super Selectos chain opened a new 2,000-square-meter point of sale in the El Encuentro shopping center in the municipality of San Miguel.
Directors of Grupo Callejas, a business conglomerate that owns the supermarket chain, reported that the new sales point has 35,000 available products, a bakery with fresh products, meats, fruits and vegetables.
With promises of a "different policy," ex-mayor of San Salvador, Nayib Bukele, won the presidential elections in El Salvador, which for the past 30 years has been governed by the traditional ARENA party and the FMLN.
The most updated data from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador show that after processing 99.94% of the minutes, the party GANA obtained 53% of the votes, followed by the Coalition of parties ARENA, PCN, PDC and DS, with 32%, the FMLN, with 14%, and Vamos, with 0.78%.
Carlos Calleja, leader of the most influential supermarket chain in El Salvador, is now the ARENA party's candidate for the presidential elections in February 2019.
Entrepreneur Carlos Calleja, 42 years old and current vice president of Grupo Calleja, in charge of the supermarket chain Súper Selectos, is seeking to become the president of the Republic on February 3 of next year, after winning internal elections held by the opposition party ARENA.
The Calleja Group has said it will invest $60 million in new supermarkets branches and a meat processing plant.
The company expects to grow by 5% in 2014, and to achieve this, it plans to invest $30 million this year and another $30 million in 2015 in the opening of eight new stores and an industrial meat processing plant.
Carlos Calleja, Vice President of the group, stated that "among the Calleja Group's projects is the construction of an industrial plant for processing meat, which will cost more than $10 million. The work will take place in Nejapa, department of San Salvador. For now it is still in the stage of obtaining permits from the authorities, but after the second semester work will begin. "
The application for authorization for economic concentration by Grupo Calleja with the Superintendency of Competition in El Salvador has been withdrawn after negotiations were broken off.
A press release from the Superintendency of Competition in El Salvador states:
Lawyers representing Grupo Calleja who filed a request for authorization for economic concentration resulting from Calleja’s purchase of Europa S.A.
The Salvadoran Superintendence of Competition has received a request by Calleja SA, owner of Súper Selectos, to buy Almacenes Europa.
The request, which will be reviewed by the Board of the Superintendency of Competition (SC), was presented on January 2nd and is for the purchase of the five of sales outlets belonging to Europa SA, owner of Almacenes Europa and Hiper Europa.
With an investment of $40 million the supermarket chain will open 12 new supermarkets and a supply center in Nejapa in the next two years.
The opening of store number 84, which will be 1400 meters in size, in San Salvador’s Metrocentro, marks the beginning of the expansion by the Calleja Group who owns the supermarket chain.
Elmundo.com.sv reported statements by Carlos Calleja, vice president of Grupo Calleja on the occasion of the inauguration, "We are already working on the collection center in Nejapa, which we've used as a first step, while we build further facilities."
This form of business has reached supermarket chains who are reserving specific areas where everything costs a dollar.
Seeking to position itself among consumers, the Salvadoran chains Súper Selectos and Dollar City have ventured into this format.
Súper Selectos, has incorporated a 'dollar zone' into its outlets. The dollar zone is an area where products ranging from stationery to gardening and cooking tools are at prices not exceeding $3.
In the next two years the group plans to build a processing facility and storage center as well as open 12 new stores.
The construction work for the meat and poultry processing facility, which will also have capacity for fruit and vegetable packing, has already begun near the country's capital city, San Salvador.
"The other project is a storage center that will take over most of Callega's logistical and distribution needs.
The supermarket chain plans to open seven new stores in 2011.
With the openings the chain will reach ninety stores and 6.000 employees.
Carlos Calleja, vice president of Calleja Group, owner of the supermarket chain, said the new stores will be located in rural areas of the country where Super Selectos still does not have a presence."
"Another project in the agenda is the construction of a storage facility for perishable goods in Nejapa" reports Laprensagrafica.com. "Last year, Super Selectos signed an alliance with producers in the north of the country to purchase directly from them vegetables and fruits."
The Salvadoran supermarket chain inked a deal with farmers from the country’s north to acquire all their production.
Carlos Calleja, president and owner of Super Selectos, explained that this alliance will allow the company to market these products directly in its 84 stores countrywide.
He told ElSalvador.com: “the objective of this agreement is to foster the development of the northern area of the country, and to sell 100% Salvadoran goods in our stores”.
The supermarket chain plans to open five new branches in different parts of the country this year.
Carlos Calleja, vice president of the supermarket chain, informed Elsalvador.com: “We are hoping to open five new stores with a multimillion dollar investment this year, developing more jobs for the country and trying to get closer to all the niches and towns.”
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After 57 years, Super Selectos, owned by the Salvadoran Grupo Calleja, is the only retail chain with local capital left. It has 80 stores and 5,300 employees.
Circa 1951. The city folk would shop at the market. The supermarket concept did not exist. To explore this niche, Agustin Alfaro Moran copied the idea of a store that would sell retail refrigerated products in El Salvador.