As part of its strategy to reach more consumers, Home Depot Mexico opened a new store using its Express format in San Juan del Rio, Queretaro.
This is number 92 in the company’s retail chain, requiring an investment of 100 million pesos for 2,000 square feet of floor space to be used for sales. The new store offers 15,000 items products, creating direct employment for about 50 people. On average, the new format of the company will be 79% smaller than the typical sales area.
“It took us two years to design this store format, opening in towns with fewer than 300,000 inhabitants or in large cities (like Mexico) where there is a shortage of real estate,” said Richard Zaldivar, president and CEO of the company.
In an interview, the executive explained that a traditional Home Depot store in Mexico ranges from a sales area of 5,000 to 8,000 square meters and requires an investment of 150 to 200 million pesos. Larger stores offer about 10,000 to 15,000 products and generate about 100 to 110 direct jobs.
Zaldivar recalled that in 2001 – when Home Depot came to Mexico – the company had proposed to reach 50 stores in the country. The store is closing in on 100 retail stores as of this printing.
By 2012, the company which specializes in selling home improvement products plans to open nine units (including San Juan del Rio, Queretaro) with an investment of 2,000 million pesos, 33% more than what was originally spent last year.
The company’s annual turnover is about 13,000 million pesos each year, offering 13,000 products under one roof from 1,100 suppliers and serving 40 million customers each year.
“You have to serve more customers and reach more markets such as San Juan del Rio,” said the president of Home Depot Mexico. He explained that out of the nine stores that will open this year, only Queretaro will follow the Express format.
Founded in 1978, The Home Depot is a company specializing in home improvement. Considered the world’s largest, the company has a presence in U.S., Mexico, Canada and China, with global revenues of 70.4 billion dollars, operates 2,252 stores, and employs more than 300,000 people.
