The multinational retail company announced they will invest 45% more in 2011 in Central America and Mexico compared to 2010.
The planned investment for 2011 is $ 1.560 million, 45% higher than the $ 1.077 million in 2010, said the president of Wal-Mart Mexico and Central America.
The multinational plans to open 445 new stores, of which 365 will be in Mexico and the rest in Central America.
The new concept of the supermarket chain involves service transformation and product offer.
In an effort to stay ahead of the needs and tastes of customers, Walmart of Mexico and Central America developed a new retail concept called "Mas x Menos, the cool way to buy."
This new concept will cover all outlets in Walmart supermarkets of Central America.
Automercado, Walmart and Gessa are expected to open 18 new supermarkets in 2010, worth a combined investment of $20 million.
Walmart will add ten new locations to its network, using its Pali and Maxi Bodega Brands, while Automercado will open two and Gessa six under its Perimercados and Super Compro brands.
Once ready, Costa Rica will have a grand total of 323 supermarkets, out of which 170 will be owned by Walmart, 82 by Megasuper, 58 by Gessa and 13 by Automercado, reported Nacion.com.
The supermarket chain invested over $1 million in replacing refrigeration and illumination systems.
WalMart updated all its supermarkets in the country (Pali, Hipermas, MasXMenos and MaxiBodega), and could save around 1.520.000 kW h per year.
“They replaced standard lighting equipment with efficient energy decides, improved refrigeration systems and humidity control equipment”, reported Elfinancierocr.com.
WalMart Central America will open 11 new stores in Costa Rica in 2010.
Marcos Samaha, president and CEO, explained that seven of them will operate under the 'Palí' brand, three under 'Mas X Menos' and one 'Maxi Bodega'.
"500 direct jobs will be created by these stores, which will be added to the total 9.200 employees the company has in Costa Rica. WalMart operates 4 brands in the country: Palí, Más x Menos, Hipermás y Maxi Bodega", reports Nacion.com.
Starting January 2009, the corporate offices of Wal-Mart Central America will be set up in Costa Rica.
The Executive Committee of the company will have their headquarters and corporate offices in Costa Rica.
Since 2001, when the alliance between La Fragua Guatemala and the United Supermarkets Corporation of Costa Rica was made, the company has kept the corporate offices of both of the original companies while it continue to integrate them into one regional company.
Saving in electricity or increasing the number of private brands are some of the strategies that Wal-Mart Central America is pushing with the goal of reducing the cost of operation.
During an interview with the Prensa Libre, Manuel Zuniga, vice-president of Corporate Matters for Wal-Mart Central America, he spoke of how the consumption habits and loyalty of clients have changed under the new circumstances.
Sixteen Central American supermarket chains have formed an alliance to boost efficiency and fight regional competition led by Wal-Mart.
The alliance, known as Sucap, is still at the stage of defining the structure it will use for joint operations, said Guillermo Aguilar, managing director of Perimercados, one of four Costa Rican members.
Sucap leaders met recently in Panama to work out strategies, and evaluations are underway of the operations of member supermarkets. A group of executives from Salvadoran members of Sucap visited Costa Rica to study the fruit and vegetable distribution centers of Grupo Empresarial de Supermercados (GESSA).