Automotive retail chains plan tripling in size
DCI
Companies and franchise chains related to the car sector take advantage of the continuous growth of the sale of cars in the country and the road system to increase operations in Brazil. That is the case of Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions (BBTS), arm of Bridgestone, world leader in the manufacture of tires, which has stores specialized in products and services for trucks and buses and should nearly triple the number of units it has until 2014. Today, there are 110 stores in Brazil, but it intends to get to 300 units and it is investing US$ 3 million in its network this year, 15% more than it invested in 2009. According to Ricardo Drygalla, Marketing Manager of BBTS, 30 stores are expected open this year, and 18 of them already have their contracts closed.
The manager says the company had been planning a more accelerated expansion. In 2009, it opened fewer units, 16 stores, due to the economic crisis, but it is now resuming growth and opening even more stores than it was doing before the crisis, when it inaugurated an average of 20 franchisees a year. The investment to open a store of the brand today ranges from R$ 150 (US$ 85.7) to R$ 450 thousand (US$ 257.1 thousand), not including the place. Brazil is also a market that stands out for the brand: it is the second largest market outside the United States, where the company has nearly 2 thousand stores.
According to Jurandir Machado, Expansion Manager of the Chain, tire makers such as Bridgestone, withholder of Firestone, "realized the thing is not only selling tires"; to stay on the market they had to offer more services, such as recapping and brake and suspension maintenance, that offer twice as much profit than the sale of products and increase the average ticket in the store. The company, which also studies other formats of chains and franchises to achieve the segment of lighter vehicles, is currently allowing the use of its brand by other stores and also has tire-only dealers.
Among its rivals, the DPaschoal group, which sells only the Goodyear tires and also offers products and services for cars, is another one that has gone through a major process of restructuring in recent years and is prepared to move forward. It currently has 600 points-of-sale and has earned R$ 1.5 billion (US$ 857 million) in 2009, but its goal is to grow 25% this year and reach 1 thousand points-of-sale by 2011. To achieve this goal, the company that works with other brands and accredited models, will also release a new model this year, and it believes that causes the chain to grow three times in size.
Another chain of automotive services that should grow is Oficina Brasil, which currently has more than 100 workshop units and uses another strategy, with the goal of opening spaces in the parking area of shopping malls over the next five years. The chain already has partnerships with several hypermarkets, such as Carrefour, Extra, Walmart, but it wants to be an anchor store in the parking area of malls, which will boost its expansion.