It seems site selection in Latin America is just as critical for companies outside the IT and BPO world. The rise of mall culture has highlighted this, as high-end retailers fight for precious space in and around what the Financial Times calls the region’s “destination malls.” There are already 1,800 malls across Latin America and another 150 are under construction. Some 130 malls have opened in Brazil alone since 2010. Zara parent Inditex says it plans to open up 30 more stores before year end to keep pace with the trend, and FT notes that American Eagle Outfitters and Gap are also expanding into Mexico and Chile. Sure, most headlines this year have touted the region’s impending economic tumble — but you certainly wouldn’t know it by looking at the shopping boom.
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As a marketing consultant working in Mexico and Latin America, we are quite familiar with what North Americans might call a “disconnect” between shopping and the state of the economy. Remember that Brazil, Argentina etc have lived through long periods of astronomic inflation, where buying something NOW was the way to stay ahead and, in fact, even get rich. At the first signs of economic wobbling, many go shopping.
This is true especially at the lower middle classes who are aspirational and want instant gratification as opposed to planning for the future (“Why plan for the future?” they say, “It can all fall apart in one day.”)This, coupled with lower real estate prices and construction costs, stronger dollar plus hungry consumers fuel the expansion there by European and American brands.