Walmart’s hypermarkets in Mexico are suffering from stagnant sales, but sales at the global retail giant’s mini-grocery store, Bodega Aurrera Express, are growing, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bodega Aurrera Express stores look like oversized versions of mom-and-pop shops. Merchandise is stacked high on the walls and there are pictures of Bodega Aurrera’s mascot Mama Lucha, a chubby cartoon housewife dressed like a masked wrestler who competes for the best prices. The stores average about one-thirtieth the retail space of a Walmart Supercenter.
Walmart launched the Bodega Aurrera Express format in 2008 and now operates nearly 900 stores, but sales have only exploded this year. This growth is encouraging for Walmart, as the Mexican business accounts for 20 percent of the retailer’s international sales. But Walmart is already the largest grocer in Mexico, accounting for more than a fifth of total grocery sales.
A customer at Bodega Aurrera Express said she buys packaged items like toothpaste and shampoo at the store, where prices are better, but still picks up fruit, vegetables and meat from outdoor stalls at a nearby street market. “It seems more convenient than driving to the supermarket,” she said.
Simpler, more convenient stores are gaining ground in other markets too. In Brazil, Walmart’s big rivals are gaining ground with stores the size of Bodega Aurrera Express. And in the U.S., Walmart’s smaller Neighborhood Markets saw comparable-store sales rise 5.5 percent in the third quarter, while Walmart’s overall comparable-store sales rose just 0.5 percent during the same period.
