Soriana

Organización Soriana, S.A.B. de C.V.
Sociedad Anónima Bursátil de Capital Variable
Traded as BMV: SORIANA B
Industry Retail
Founded 1968
Headquarters Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Key people
 Francisco Javier Martín, (Chairman)
Ricardo Martin Bringas, (CEO)
Products Consumer goods
Revenue Increase US$8.0 billion (2012)[1]
Decrease US$277.4 million (2012)[2]
Number of employees
 93,700
Website www.soriana.com

Organización Soriana is a Mexican public company and a major retailer in Mexico with more than 824 stores.[3] Soriana is a grocery and department store retail chain headquartered in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. The company is 100% capitalized in Mexico and has been publicly traded on the Mexican stock exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores), since 1987 under the symbol: "Soriana". Soriana is powered by IT Retail software.

Overview

Soriana logo used until 2014.
Interior of a Soriana store at Oaxaca de Juarez

Soriana was founded in 1968 by Mexican entrepreneurs and brothers, Francisco and Armando Martín Borque, in Torreón, Coahuila. The company currently, as of 2013, operates under the brands Soriana, Clubes City Club, Hipermart, Mercado Soriana, and Super City. Super City is the company's convenience store division brand. It operates supermarkets and department stores for consumer and wholesale markets.

Soriana competes primarily with H-E-B, Alsuper, Comercial Mexicana, Chedraui, S-Mart and Walmex. Soriana emphasizes that it is Mexican-owned and operated. It is not uncommon to see advertising circulars from competitors Wal-Mart, Bodega Aurrerá, Superama, Chedraui, Alsuper or H-E-B posted around the store with certain items highlighted, pointing out that these items are cheaper at Soriana, a common practice in retail store environments.

On December 6, 2007, Organizacion Soriana acquired Supermercados Gigante for US$1.35 billion. In 2008, Soriana replaced the existing Gigante stores including its seven stores in the United States (U.S. stores were sold in May to Chedraui). Most Mexican stores retained Supermercados Gigante props like point of sale systems and food equipment.

In 2012, it had more than 606 stores in 208 cities in Mexico under 5 store formats, which include 249 Soriana Híper, 105 Soriana Súper, 147 Mercado Soriana, 72 Soriana Express and 33 City Club. It also had 14 distribution centers. In 2006, for reporting and administrative purposes, Soriana moved its headquarters from Torreón to Monterrey.

Promotions in Soriana

Soriana promotes its "Tarjeta del Aprecio" (appreciation card), whereby customers who purchase items earn points for free merchandise, and in-store credits for 20% off in general merchandise.

Soriana is currently the shirt sponsor for the Primera División de la Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (Mexico's Top League) football club Santos Laguna.

Slogans and trade names

Evolution

A Soriana Plus store at Ciudad Victoria

Store openings by state:

Controversy and criticisms

2012 Mexico's Presidential Elections alleged Soriana gift cards vote buy

At a news conference, the leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed that the election was "plagued with irregularities" and accused the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of allegedly buying votes in favor of Enrique Peña Nieto.[4] He also claims that the PRI handed out gifts to lure voters to cast their vote in favor of them.[5] During the day of the 2012 presidential elections, people who voted for el PRI would receive pre-paid gift cards. Nonetheless, the PRI and the store denied such accusation [6] and threatened to sue López Obrador.[5] Peña Nieto vowed to imprison anyone – including members of the PRI – if they are found guilty of electoral fraud.[7] Despite Enrique's statement many videos by citizens about the Soriana cards surfaced on Youtube.[8][9]

References

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