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Neutral is building on its existing eight-store network with a planned new outlet at Bella Unión |
URUGUAY. Uruguayan border store operators are committing themselves to major investment in new and renovated outlets to meet rising demand from the Brazilian travellers, who represent 90% of their business.
Neutral, the object of a fund buy-out by JH Partners and former InterBaires and Duty Free Americas executive Enrique Urioste in May, is starting construction on a 1,500sq m store in the town of Bella Unión – where the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay intersect – with completion slated for late 2011.
“The store is located on the highway that is the main route for travellers to or from Paraguay, and our complex will also include a food court,” Urioste told The Moodie Report.
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Neutral’s store at the border town of Chuy, one of its shops targeting high-spending Brazilian travellers |
To the end of April 2011, Neutral’s eight locations along the Uruguay/Brazil border generated revenues up +30% on the same period in 2010.
Duty Free Americas Uruguay is continuing a strong expansion trajectory on the back of two openings in late 2010 – a 2,000sq m store in Rio Branco, and its largest operation, a 3,500sq m store in Chuy. It already had a large store in Rivera.
The company has targeted the border towns of Acegua, Artigas and Bella Unión for its next openings, and is building a new distribution centre to service further expansion in the network.
“Economic conditions and the exchange rate are very strong motivators for the large numbers of tourist that are visiting us every week,” advised Andrés Mendelsohn, Director of Duty Free Americas Uruguay.
“DFA is consolidating its presence on the border and we are gaining market share.”
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Duty Free Americas Uruguay’s first store at Rivera is now part of a growing network along the Uruguay-Brazil border |
Meanwhile Siñeriz Free Shop is working on an ambitious project to renovate its store in Rivera, and plans to relaunch the new, 10,000sq m outlet by February 2012, offering what Manager Rafael Parodí calls “a new level of experience” for its predominantly Brazilian customers.
“We are working to incorporate dozens of new brands,” Parodí said.
Retailers in border locations in Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay are also reporting significant double-digit revenue growth in 2011, as Brazilian travellers benefit from the strength of the Real against the Dollar as well as a buoyant domestic economy.
Note: A feature article on retailing along Brazil’s borders will be published this month in The Moodie Report’s Latin America Report, which appears at the annual ASUTIL duty free conference in Cancún, Mexico.
