One year on from its acquisition of a majority stake in Walmart Brasil, investment fund Advent International has announced major changes in strategy at its Brazilian operations.
This include the change of the corporate brand for its hypermarkets and supermarkets to Grupo BIG, in addition to greater focus and investment in the cash & carry and shopping club formats, enabling it to compete more effectively with rivals GPA and Carrefour Brasil.
The company will also invest more than R$ 1.2 billion (€270.6 million) over the next 18 months towards the modernisation and enlargement of its stores.
Local Management
Grupo BIG will feature 100% local management, which should ensure more agility in decision making and enable the company to reach a new level of competitiveness, the group said.
The company is seeking to 'get even closer' to its customers in all regions and formats in which it operates.
With the aim of increasing its share of the wholesale format, earlier this year Grupo BIG initiated the Maxxi Atacado project, which includes a change in brand positioning, and the structural and technological transformation of 43 outlets throughout Brazil, a 40% growth in the assortment and the conversion of 10 hypermarkets into wholesale stores.
Grupo BIG (formerly Walmart Brasil) is the third largest food retailer in Brazil, with around 550 stores in 18 states, in addition to the Federal District. The group operates seven store banners between hypermarkets (BIG and BIG Bompreço), supermarkets (Super Bompreço and Nacional), wholesale (Maxxi Atacado), shopping club (Sam's Club) and neighbourhood stores (TodoDia), as well as gas stations and pharmacies.
The company reported revenues of R$ 28 billion (€6.38 billion) in 2018.
Advent International acquired 80% of Walmart Brasil in July 2018, with Walmart Inc. maintaining a 20% stake in the company.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
