Skip to main content

Table 5 The success of Wal-Mart de Mexico (Walmex): key facts.

From: Uneven dietary development: linking the policies and processes of globalization with the nutrition transition, obesity and diet-related chronic diseases

• Walmex is Mexico's leading retailer, with 420 supermarkets and discount stores, and 290 restaurants, in 79 cities

• Walmex stores sell food, general merchandise and food; as a percentage of total sales, general merchandise and clothes actually make up more than food

• There were 663 million customer transactions at Walmex in 2004

• Sales from Walmex have grown rapidly over the past decade; in 2004, sales increased by 11% to reach a record high of US$12.4 billion

• Walmex continues to grow: In 2005, it invested US$625 million to open a further 77 outlets

• Reflecting their aggressive stance on low prices, Walmex's tagline is "low prices everyday"

• The company employs more people (109,075) than any other company in Mexico

• Walmex's success has left its three main Mexican supermarket rivals struggling to compete, and is attributed with causing the French supermarket giant, Carrefour, to withdraw from the Mexican market in 2005

  1. Sources: [67,89,148,149].