Ancient Mexico Facts

Until the 1940s, Mexican department stores were native institutions, even if their owners were originally from another country (French merchants were particularly dominant in the early part of the century). They gradually expanded their operations to other major cities, but they were not part of any multinational enterprise. Then in 1947 Sears, Roebuck opened its first store in Mexico City. Sears was an innovator in U.S. retailing, having invented the vertically integrated department store, with manufacturing, distribution, and warehousing all integrated into the operation. When Sears opened in Mexico it replicated this model using Mexican manufacturers. By 1975 it was the second-largest retailer in Mexico, and as of 1996 there were more than 45 Sears stores in Mexico.

Other U.S. models were provided by Woolworths, which opened two stores in Mexico City in 1956; Southland Corporation’s 7-11 convenience stores, which began operations in Mexico in 1971; and the many franchise restaurants that began to proliferate in the 1970s. In the 1980s the Mexican government improved the legal environment for investors, which contributed to a proliferation of franchise stores. In 1993 there were 150 different franchises operating in Mexico, 38 percent of which were fast-food businesses ( McDonald’s opened for business in Mexico in 1985).

Mexico adopted supermarkets soon after they were developed in the United States. In Mexico, as in the United States, the spread of supermarkets developed as an outgrowth of suburbanization, increasing disposable income, and the widespread ownership of automobiles. The first Mexican supermarket, Sumesa, opened its doors in Mexico City in 1946, and word of its clean, well-lit store, attractive displays, and large selection quickly spread. The number of supermarkets grew steadily since then, and by the 1990s there were dozens of chains (including Aurrera, Gigante, and Comercial Mexicana) with hundreds of stores throughout the country. These stores instilled the concepts of self-service and fixed prices in Mexico. They also represented an advance in marketing, since they were an important medium for product branding and advertising.

A similar story can be told concerning shopping malls, which began to proliferate in the United States in the 1960s. The first Mexican shopping malls were the Plaza Universidad in Mexico City, the Plaza Dorada in Puebla, and the Plaza las Quintas in Culiacán, all constructed in 1970. These were all located in suburban areas, thus partially displacing the city center as the focus of urban retailing. Shopping malls are designed to accommodate automobile traffic, to the exclusion of pedestrian traffic, and they are targeted to upper-income level consumers.

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