09/19/2008 15h02
Magazine Luiza gets to the São Paulo Metropolitan Area this Monday
Folha de S. Paulo - 09/19/2008
Magazine Luiza, the third largest retail network of household devices and furniture of the country, lands in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo next Monday with the opening of 44 stores, with greatest concentration in the East side of the capital and five units in shopping malls. The investment in these units was not revealed, but the forecast is that it may reach R$ 150 million (US$ 92 million) with the 100 stores that should be opened until 2010, among its own resources, financing from the BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank) and other sources that are yet to be defined. The initial projection was to open 50 stores on the same day, an old dream of the founder of the network, Luiza Trajano, but there were problems with the works. As a result, three units will be inaugurated until next month and five other, amounting to 52, until the end of the year. The forecast is that sales should reach R$ 3.4 billion (US$ 2.1 billion) this year, 32% above 2007's. From this total, 27 points were real property that was previously rented to the Kolumbus network, which ended its activities last year. "We know we will make mistakes, but we fully believe in our capacity of redirecting the mistakes", affirmed the superintendent, Luiza Helena Trajano, yesterday while presenting the concept store that will be opened in Shopping Aricanduva, with a differentiated layout and the offer of free services. In the beginning of the year, she tells, the main partners were called "to help" the chain enter the São Paulo market, but she refuses to use the word "layette", a practice in which the supplier gives the network as a present part of the stock of a new store. In order to facilitate the access of new customers, the network already has a preset record of 2.8 million consumers with a good paying history in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo. The credit card of the company, in partnership with Unibanco, is already responsible for 26% of the sales. The network, headquartered in Franca (SP), had its 50
th anniversary in November. Last year, it opened a distribution center in Louveira (SP), with an area of 240 thousand square meters, with an eye in the expansion plan. Magazine Luiza operates in seven States (São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina) and it currently has 397 stores. The segment sales leader, Casas Bahia, has 550 stores, 150 of them in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo. Ponto Frio, on its turn has, 111 of its 437 ones.
