Soriana — BrandWiki

Soriana

Overview

Organización Soriana, S.A.B. de C.V.

key people
type	Sociedad Anónima Bursátil de Capital Variable
traded as	bmv: SORIANA B 5693
foundation	1968
location city	Monterrey, Nuevo Leon
location country	Mexico

industry	Retail

num employees	93,700

products	Consumer goods

net income	US$277.4 million (2012) ‡R1R‡

revenue	US$8.0 billion (2012) ‡R1R‡

homepage	http://www.soriana.com/

Organización Soriana is a Mexican public company and one of the largest retailers in Mexico, operating more than 824 stores.[2] It is a grocery and department store chain headquartered in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. The company is fully capitalized in Mexico and has been publicly traded on the Mexican Stock Exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores) since 1987 under the ticker symbol Soriana.

Overview

Soriana was founded in 1968 by Mexican entrepreneurs and brothers, Francisco and Armando Martín Borque in Torreón, Coahuila. As of 2013, the company operated under the brands Soriana, Clubes City Club, Hipermart, Mercado Soriana, and Super City. Super City serves as the company's convenience store division. Soriana manages supermarkets and department stores catering to both consumer and wholesale markets.

Soriana's main competitors include H-E-B, La Comer, Chedraui, S-Mart, and Walmex. The company highlights its Mexican ownership and operations in its branding. A common retail practice in its stores involves displaying competitors' advertising circulars, such as those from Wal-Mart, Bodega Aurrerá, Superama, Chedraui, Alsuper, or H-E-B, with specific items marked to show lower prices at Soriana.

On December 6, 2007, Organización Soriana acquired Supermercados Gigante for US$1.35 billion. In 2008, Soriana replaced the Gigante brand in most of its stores, including seven locations in the United States, which were subsequently sold to Chedraui in May of that year. Many of the former Gigante stores in Mexico retained existing infrastructure, such as point-of-sale systems and food equipment.

By 2012, the company operated more than 606 stores in 208 cities across Mexico under five store formats: 249 Soriana Híper, 105 Soriana Súper, 147 Mercado Soriana, 72 Soriana Express, and 33 City Club. Soriana also maintained 14 distribution centers. In 2006, for reporting and administrative purposes, the company relocated its headquarters from Torreón to Monterrey.

History

The Beginnings of La Soriana

Soriana traces its origins to 1905, when Pascual Borque, a native of Soria, Spain, established a fabric and perfumery business in Torreón, Coahuila, under the name La Soriana. In 1920, the company incorporated wholesale merchandise into its operations, becoming a prominent reference point for trade and consumption in Torreón.[3][4][5]

In 1930, brothers Armando and Francisco Martín Borque assumed management of the business and expanded operations into municipalities across Coahuila, Durango, Chihuahua, and Sonora. In subsequent years, La Soriana shifted its focus from wholesale to retail.

Beginnings as a supermarket

In 1968, La Soriana discontinued its textiles and perfumery operations and transitioned to the supermarket model. That year, the company opened its first hypermarket, then described as a commercial center, in downtown

Store formats

Soriana Híper

Soriana Híper is the flagship store format of Organización Soriana, created in 1968. The format consists of hypermarkets primarily located in cities with more than 150,000 inhabitants. Stores typically have a sales floor ranging from 4,000 to 11,000 m². They operate under a retail model with a wide assortment of merchandise, carrying approximately 50,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) across divisions such as clothing, general merchandise, groceries, and perishable foods. Most stores are part of shopping centers that include 40 to 50 smaller retail outlets rented to third parties.

Soriana Híper competes with:

In 2008, most former Gigante stores were converted into Soriana Híper, along with some Bodega Gigante units, three Súper Gigante stores in Baja California, and one Súper Maz location in Mérida.

In 2017, 14 former Comercial Mexicana stores in Baja California were converted to Soriana Híper. In 2018, part of the 47 Comercial Mexicana units acquired in 2016 were also converted, mainly in northern cities such as Mazatlán, Culiacán, Hermosillo, La Paz, Veracruz, Mérida, Zamora, and Celaya.

Walmart Supercenter (Walmart), its main nationwide competitor
Chedraui (Grupo Comercial Chedraui)

Promotions

Soriana promotes the Tarjeta del Aprecio (Appreciation Card), a loyalty program through which customers earn points on purchases. Accumulated points can be redeemed for merchandise or store credits, including discounts of up to 20% on general merchandise.

Soriana is the official shirt sponsor of Santos Laguna, a football club in Mexico's top professional league, the Liga MX.

Slogans and trade names

Over the years, Soriana has used several slogans in its advertising campaigns, including:

Donde todos los días son buenos días ("Where All Days Are Good Days") – late 1970s
Responde cuando usted lo necesita ("Responds When You Need It") – 1988
Todos los caminos conducen a Soriana ("All Ways Lead to Soriana") – 1990
Lo mejor al mejor precio ("The Best at the Best Prices") – 1993
En suma pagas menos (pun meaning both "Pay Less for the Total" and "In Short, Pay Less") – mid-1990s
Nuestros precios hablan ("Our Prices Speak") – 1999, 2011
Apre¢io por ti / A pre¢io por ti (pun meaning both "At the Right Pri¢e for You" and "E$teem for You") – 2000
Mejores ofertas a precios más bajos ("Better Offers at Lower Prices") – 2001
El precio más bajo garantizado ("The Lowest Price Guaranteed") – 2002
El mayor ahorro ("The Greatest Savings") – 2007
Porque nos importas tú ("Because We Care for You") – 2008
¡Hazlo híper, y ahorra! ("Do Hyper, and Save!") – 2013

Evolution

Soriana expanded gradually across Mexico, opening stores in different states as follows:

1968 – Coahuila
1971 – Durango
1972 – Chihuahua
1974 – Nuevo León
1984 – Tamaulipas
1989 – Zacatecas
1990 – Aguascalientes
1994 – Jalisco, Guanajuato
1997 – Querétaro
1998 – San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Tlaxcala
1999 – Michoacán, Colima, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Hidalgo, Puebla

Criticisms and controversies

2012 presidential election gift card scandal

During the 2012 Mexican presidential election, candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador alleged that the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) engaged in electoral fraud by distributing Soriana pre-paid gift cards in exchange for votes in favor of its candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto.[104] López Obrador also claimed that other gifts were provided to attract voters.

Both the PRI and Soriana denied the accusations,[105] with the PRI threatening legal action against López Obrador.[106] Peña Nieto stated that anyone, including members of his own party, would face imprisonment if found guilty of electoral fraud.[107] Nevertheless, videos and testimonies from citizens regarding the alleged distribution of Soriana cards were circulated on YouTube and other media platforms.

External links

References

SORIANAB: Organizacion Soriana SAB de CV Stock Price Quote - BMV Mexico - Bloomberg^
Barbara Farfan. The Largest Mexican Retailers Gain on Global Competitors Like Walmart The Balance Small Business^
La Soriana y su evolución retailers.mx, retrieved 2019-01-11

The 1990s

In 1990, Soriana opened its first store on the Mexican Pacific coast in Baja California, with the Soriana Tijuana Plaza Carrousel branch. However, following an agreement with Casa Ley, the store was closed four years later and subsequently replaced by a Comercial Mexicana location. Soriana later reacquired this property in 2015 and reopened it under its original name in 2017 after the conversion of Comercial Mexicana stores into Soriana Híper.

In 1994, the Martín Borque brothers reunited and merged their commercial chains (Soriana and Hipermart), forming Centros Comerciales Soriana, which later became Tiendas Soriana. That same year, Soriana expanded into the state of Jalisco with two stores in the Guadalajara metropolitan area: Soriana Bugambilias in Zapopan (originally operating under the pseudonym Hiperama until its rebranding as Soriana Híper in 2016) and Soriana Río Nilo in Guadalajara. The company also entered Guanajuato with stores in León (Soriana Malecón) and Irapuato (Soriana Jacarandas).

In 1995, Soriana continued its expansion with the opening of its first store in Tampico, Tamaulipas (Soriana Ejército). In 1997, it entered Querétaro with the Soriana Quintana branch, marking the company's presence in central Mexico. From 1998 onward, Soriana expanded further with stores in San Luis Potosí (Soriana El Paseo), Veracruz (Soriana Coatzacoalcos El Palmar), and Tlaxcala (Soriana Tlaxcala). On May 1, 1998, Soriana inaugurated its first store in Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas, with an investment of 350 million pesos.[9] In December 1998, Francisco Martín Borque, founder and key promoter of the company, passed away.

In 1999, Soriana expanded into additional regions, opening stores in Michoacán (Soriana Uruapan), Colima (Soriana Plaza Colima), Hidalgo (Soriana Plaza del Valle Pachuca), Puebla (Soriana Torrecillas), Tabasco (Soriana Villahermosa Guayabal—the company's first store in southeastern Mexico), and Sinaloa (Soriana Culiacán Zapata), marking its return to the Pacific market following the dissolution of its non-compete agreement with Casa Ley.

2000–2007

Opening of store no. 100 and expansion into new states

In December 2000, Soriana entered the state of Nayarit for the first time with the opening of its 100th branch in the city of Tepic (Soriana Cigarrera). With this, it became the fourth self-service retail chain in Mexico to operate 100 stores under the same commercial name, following Cifra-Walmart, Tiendas Gigante, and Comercial Mexicana.[10]

Between 2001 and 2003, Soriana expanded into the southeast of Mexico, opening its first stores in Oaxaca (2001), Yucatán and Chiapas (2002), and Campeche and Quintana Roo (2003). In 2002, the company also entered La Paz, Baja California Sur. In 2004, Fundación Soriana, A.C. was established to strengthen and formalize corporate social responsibility programs.

Creation of new store formats: City Club, Mercado Soriana, and Súper City

On 17 July 2002, Soriana launched the price-club format City Club, in Torreón, Coahuila. This model targeted both families with high consumption and businesses by offering wholesale and semi-wholesale merchandise.[11][12] That same year, Soriana introduced its loyalty card, La Tarjeta del Aprecio (renamed Tarjeta Recompensas in 2015 and Tarjeta Recompensas Payback in 2018), which allowed customers to accumulate points to redeem for discounts, free products, or exclusive items.

In July 2003, Soriana created the Mercado Soriana format, opening its first branch in Salamanca, Guanajuato. This model consisted of medium-sized supermarkets with sales areas of 3,500 to 5,000 m², offering around 25,000 products at competitive prices. It was designed for towns of 50,000 to 150,000 inhabitants and popular urban areas where a Soriana Híper could not be established. During 2003, additional Mercado Soriana stores were opened in Navojoa and Guaymas (Sonora) and Puebla (Soriana Mercado Puebla Bosques).[13] From then on, Soriana included smaller cities and popular neighborhoods of large metropolitan areas in its expansion strategy through the Mercado Soriana format, while continuing to grow with its hypermarkets and City Club stores.

In 2005, Soriana entered the convenience store sector with the creation of the Súper City format. Designed to compete with Oxxo and 7-Eleven, these stores operated under a franchise system.[14] That same year, Carrefour withdrew from Mexico. While most of its stores in central, western, southern, and southeastern Mexico were acquired by Chedraui and one Monterrey branch by Walmart, Soriana purchased three Carrefour stores: in Saltillo, Coahuila (Echeverría), Chihuahua (Saucito and Ciudad Juárez Alameda Iglesias), and Hermosillo, Sonora (Bachoco). This marked Soriana's second acquisition of supermarket branches.[15][16]

Expansion in central Mexico; return to Baja California Norte

In 2005, Soriana opened its first store in the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico: Mercado Soriana Ciudad Azteca in Ecatepec, Estado de México. This marked a significant step in the company's expansion into central Mexico.[17][18]

On 13 May 2006, Soriana opened two new stores in Gómez Palacio, Durango, one under the Soriana brand and another as City Club, both located in the Plaza Centenario shopping complex. In April of that year, Soriana also inaugurated its 200th store in Ciudad Frontera, Coahuila.[19]

In 2006, the company tested a new supermarket format with the opening of Soriana Súper Playa de Oro in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (closed in May 2020). The format was designed to provide a quicker shopping experience focused on daily-consumption products. That year, Soriana also returned to Baja California Norte after a 12-year absence, opening branches in Mexicali (Calafia) and Tijuana (Otay). It additionally opened its first hypermarkets in the Estado de México, including Ixtapaluca, Cofradías (in the Mexico City metropolitan area

2008–2014

Following the acquisition of 199 Gigante stores and their conversion into different company formats, Soriana became a national chain as of April 18, 2008. With its hypermarket, supermarket, warehouse, and price club formats, the company began to compete directly with other national chains, its main competitor being Walmart, which held a strong presence in central Mexico.[23]

In February 2010, as part of its multi-format strategy and ongoing geographic expansion, Soriana introduced the Soriana Express format in the municipality of Centla, Tabasco. This format consisted of supermarkets with a sales floor of 800 to 1,500 square meters, aimed at small cities and localities with populations between 10,000 and 50,000 inhabitants, as well as densely populated areas in larger cities.[24][25][26] The first Soriana Express stores opened in late May 2010 in Ixtlán del Río, Nayarit, and El Rosario, Sinaloa.[27]

In 2011, Soriana expanded the Soriana Express format nationwide. On February 9, 2011, it opened its first store of this type in Zacatecas, located in the municipality of Jerez de García Salinas with a 1,294 m² sales floor and an investment of 29 million pesos.[28] On March 10, 2011, the first Soriana Express stores in Jalisco opened in the municipalities of Tala and Zapotiltic.[29] Additional stores followed in Tlajomulco de Zúñiga (April 27, 2011),[30] Sayula (May 4, 2011),[31] and Ameca (August 25, 2011). On the same day, Soriana also opened its first Soriana Express store in Morelos, in the municipality of Yautepec de Zaragoza.[32]

As part of its multi-format strategy, Soriana restructured its organizational model in September 2011, segmenting its self-service formats according to market niches.[33] That year, the company also introduced Soriana Súper VIP, a premium supermarket concept, beginning with the remodeled Soriana Súper Marne branch in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León. The store featured a 2,230 m² sales floor with gourmet products, imported wines, liquors, delicatessen items, and prepared foods.[34][35] On October 7, 2011, Soriana opened additional Soriana Express stores in Culiacán, Sinaloa (El Dorado), and in Nacozari de García, Sonora.[36] On December 9, 2011, the company inaugurated its first hypermarkets in the capitals of Guerrero and Quintana Roo, located in Chilpancingo and Chetumal, respectively.[37]

Following the deaths of Soriana's founding brothers, leadership passed to Ricardo Martín Bringas, the youngest son of Francisco Martín Borque. By 2020, Martín Bringas had an estimated net worth of US$2.1 billion. Under his direction, Grupo Soriana expanded to more than 600 stores across 200 cities and towns, supported by 14 distribution centers nationwide. In 2006, the company relocated its headquarters from Torreón to Monterrey. Outside of Soriana, Martín Bringas and his wife founded Innovasport in 1999, specializing in athletic apparel, footwear, and sporting goods, along with a sneaker-focused spinoff chain, Innvictus, which together grew to more than 100 stores across Mexico. In 2010, he was named one of Expansión magazine's "100 Most Important Entrepreneurs in Mexico."[38]

In 2013, Soriana built its first wind power plant in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, as part of its long-term sustainability strategy. On April 24, 2014, the company inaugurated its first hypermarket in the state of Morelos, located in Plaza Cedros, Jiutepec, with a 5,843 m² sales floor and an investment of more than 101 million pesos.[39][40][41] At the end of 2014, Soriana introduced a new corporate image for both the company and its store formats. The first location to adopt this updated image was the Soriana Súper San Agustín store in Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco.

2015–2018: Acquisition of Comercial Mexicana Stores

On January 28, 2015, Soriana acquired a significant portion of Controladora Comercial Mexicana's 160 stores for a total of MXN 39,194,000. The acquisition included stores under the Comercial Mexicana, MEGA, Bodega Comercial Mexicana, and Alprecio formats, which became part of Soriana as of January 4, 2016.

In addition to the stores, Soriana obtained strategically important assets, including real estate for 118 stores, lease agreements for 42 stores, operating equipment, inventory, and the Julio Regalado promotional program, which had been established by Comercial Mexicana in 1980 and became part of Soriana in 2016.[42][43] Due to conditions imposed by the Mexican Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE), only 143 branches were purchased, as the acquisition of the full 160 stores would have affected 27 markets, potentially reducing competition and increasing consumer prices. Consequently, 27 stores were not acquired and were later sold to third parties.[44][45]

As a result, Comercial Mexicana retained 14 conditioned stores, while Soriana kept 13 for future sale. On January 4, 2016, the smaller formats Fresko, Sumesa, and City Market became part of Grupo LaComer, while the larger formats — Comercial Mexicana, MEGA, Bodega, and Alprecio — joined Soriana. Soriana obtained a license to use the Comercial Mexicana brand for more than two years before renaming the stores to Soriana formats.[46][47]

During the transition, Soriana relaunched the Julio Regalado promotion on June 3, 2016, across the recently acquired Comercial Mexicana formats MEGA, Bodega, and Alprecio.[48] On June 10, 2016, Soriana introduced the Soriana Híper Plus format, a premium hypermarket concept targeting middle- and high-income consumers, offering gourmet products and specialized departments such as cheese, wine, European breads, pastries, and exotic meats. The first store opened in the Miyana shopping center in Polanco, Mexico City, with a 7,245 m² sales floor.[49] In December 2016, Soriana reopened the Soriana Híper San Pedro store in Monterrey, Nuevo León, with a new premium concept and a sales floor of 8,637 m², making it the second Soriana Híper Plus location in Mexico.[50]

Some stores were closed as part of the integration process. On February 16, 2017, Soriana Súper Plaza Fiesta in Matamoros, Tamaulipas was permanently closed due to the proximity of another Soriana branch. On March 7, 2017, Soriana Híper Tepeyac in Zapopan, Jalisco, closed permanently due to low sales, as another Soriana Híper store was located nearby.[51][52]

Starting in March 2017, Soriana began converting Comercial Mexicana stores to its own formats, beginning in Baja California with 14 branches converted to Soriana Híper. MEGA Comercial Mexicana branches in Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa were also converted. In Mexico City, the Soriana Híper División del Norte branch (formerly Gigante) was converted into MEGA Soriana, alongside the opening of new MEGA Soriana stores in Patio Tollocan, Toluca, State of Mexico, and Plaza Citadina, Villa Corregidora, Querétaro. Additional Comercial Mexicana stores were similarly converted, including a branch in Zamora, Michoacán, which became Soriana Híper Zamora Madero in November 2017.

By March 1, 2018, Soriana completed the conversion of the remaining Comercial Mexicana stores into the following formats:

On May 31, 2018, Controladora Comercial Mexicana officially ceased operations. The Bodega Soriana format was discontinued on December 31, 2018, with most stores converted to Soriana Mercado; four became MEGA Soriana, and three became Soriana Express due to their small sales floor areas and previous Alprecio designation.[54][55]

MEGA Soriana: Most Comercial Mexicana, all MEGA Comercial Mexicana, and some Bodega Comercial Mexicana stores were converted to this format.
Soriana Híper: Selected Comercial Mexicana and MEGA stores in León, Celaya, Puerto Vallarta, Veracruz, Coatzacoalcos, and Mérida were converted to the main Soriana Híper format.
Soriana Súper: Stores with sales floors under 3,500 m², such as Comercial Mexicana Acapulco Costa Azul and Cancún Tulúm, were converted to this format.
Soriana Mercado: Certain Bodega Comercial Mexicana stores in Aguascalientes and Veracruz, as well as Comercial Mexicana Texcoco Aeropuerto, were converted to Soriana Mercado. Other Bodega Comercial Mexicana stores were temporarily operated as Bodega Soriana until December 31, 2018, before permanently becoming Soriana Mercado on January 1, 2019.[53]
Soriana Express: Three Alprecio branches (Ojo de Agua, Lerma, and Yautepec) were initially converted to Bodega Soriana in 2018, and then to Soriana Express on January 1, 2019.
City Club: Between 2022 and 2023, MEGA Comercial Mexicana branches in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, and Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, were converted to City Club.
Sodimac Homecenter: MEGA Comercial Mexicana stores in Cuernavaca, Morelos, and Boca del Río, Veracruz, were converted to this format.

2018–Present: Store openings, closures, and Sodimac Homecenter expansion

In mid-April 2016, Soriana entered into a strategic alliance with the Chilean company Falabella, investing USD 600 million for expansion. The agreement included the opening of home improvement stores under the Sodimac Homecenter brand, as well as financial services with the CMR credit card.[56] The first Sodimac Homecenter store opened in August 2018 in Cuautitlán Izcalli, State of Mexico, with a sales floor of 10,700 m².[57] Subsequent openings included stores in Arboledas, Naucalpan; Cuernavaca, Morelos (replacing a MEGA Comercial Mexicana store);[58][59] Boca del Río, Veracruz;[60] Plaza San Mateo, Naucalpan;[61] and San Luis Potosí (El Paseo shopping center).[62]

On May 20, 2021, Sodimac opened its seventh store in León, Guanajuato, replacing a City Club that closed on February 29, 2020, due to low sales.[63][64] At the end of August 2021, Sodimac entered the Monterrey metropolitan area with a store in Sendero Monterrey, followed by a second store in Santa Catarina, Nuevo León, on December 3, 2021.[65][66]

On June 16, 2022, Sodimac opened its tenth store in Mexico City at the Plaza Central shopping center, a smaller-format store with over 4,000 m² of sales space.[67][68] Additional openings at the end of 2022 included Saltillo, Coahuila (Soriana Echeverría shopping plaza) [69] and Mexico City (Gran Sur Shopping Center).[70] On July 27, 2023, the Interlomas branch in Huixquilucan, State of Mexico, opened with 5,081 m² of sales area and 30,000 products.[71]

Following the full integration of Comercial Mexicana stores, Soriana made operational adjustments to its more than 800 branches due to cannibalization, inventory shortages, and competitive pressures in central Mexico.[72]

During 2019–2020, Soriana closed several branches to comply with COFECE conditions, address low sales, or renovate stores. Notable closures included Soriana Híper Iglesias in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, temporarily closed on February 2, 2020, and reopened on May 17, 2023, as Soriana Súper Alameda Iglesias;[73][74] the City Club in León, Guanajuato, closed on February 29, 2020;[75] and several stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:

From 2021, Soriana resumed expansion and format renovations, including the reopening of Soriana Súper Gavilanes and City Club Zacatecas on September 23, 2021.[86] On October 28, 2021, Soriana Súper Sendera Colima opened in Villa de Álvarez, Colima, with a 2,897 m² gourmet concept.[87]

In 2022, Soriana opened additional stores, including Soriana Híper and City Club in Tapachula, Chiapas (June 8, 2022), City Club Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas (November 10, 2022), and Soriana Mercado Prado Norte, Cancún, Quintana Roo (December 2022).[88][89] Soriana Mercado Pino Suárez, San Juan del Río, Querétaro, closed permanently on December 16, 2022, after 37 years of operation[90]

In 2023, Soriana opened 10 new stores and remodeled 47 existing units, including:

Closures in 2023 included Soriana Mercado El Sauz, Guadalajara; Soriana Súper Maldonado, Nuevo Laredo; Soriana Híper Abasolo, Saltillo; Soriana Híper Santa Cecilia, Monterrey; Soriana Mercado Hernán Cortés, Veracruz; and Soriana Súper Agua Caliente, Tijuana.[99][100][101][102] On October 4, 2024, City Club Cordilleras in Guadalajara closed after a fire.[103]

As of 2024, Soriana operates 804 stores nationwide, including 368 Soriana Híper, 162 Soriana Mercado, 129 Soriana Súper, 106 Soriana Express, 39 City Club, and 13 Sodimac Homecenter locations.

Soriana Mercado Plaza Inn, Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala (March 15, 2020)[76]
MEGA Soriana Acapulco Las Hamacas, Acapulco, Guerrero (April 30, 2020)[77]
Soriana Súper Playa de Oro, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (May 1, 2020; later acquired by Chedraui)[78]
Soriana Híper Campestre, Celaya, Guanajuato (May 31, 2020; later replaced by Chedraui)[79]
Soriana Híper Plaza Las Ánimas, Puebla, Puebla (June 30, 2020)[80]
Soriana Híper Misión, Ensenada, Baja California, and Soriana Híper León Campestre, León, Guanajuato (July 31, 2020)[81]

Soriana Híper Viñedos, Torreón, Coahuila (February 1, 2023)[91]
Soriana Mercado Comitán, Comitán de Domínguez, Chiapas[92]
City Club Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche[93]
Soriana Súper Alameda Iglesias and Soriana Súper Talamás, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua[94][95]
Soriana Súper López de Lara, Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
Soriana Híper Abasolo and Soriana Súper Campestre Saltillo, Saltillo, Coahuila
Soriana Express Hernán Cortés, Veracruz, Veracruz (reopened November 23, 2023)[96]

Soriana Híper Plus

Soriana Híper Plus is a subformat of Soriana Híper, aimed at mature markets with high-income consumers. In addition to the products offered in Soriana Híper, it includes premium selections such as wines and gourmet foods. These stores typically carry up to 60,000 SKUs and feature redesigned interiors.

Competitors include:

Examples of Soriana Híper Plus stores include:

H-E-B (primarily)
La Comer (Grupo La Comer, primarily)
Walmart Supercenter (partially)
Selecto Chedraui (main nationwide competitor)
Until January 3, 2016, it also competed with Mega Comercial Mexicana.

Gran Terraza Coapa (Mexico City)
Plaza Miyana Polanco (Mexico City)
Pilares (Mexico City)
COAPA (Mexico City)
Viñedos (Torreón)
Hipermart Independencia (Torreón)
San Pedro (Monterrey)
San Nicolás (Monterrey)
Galerías Valle Oriente (Monterrey)
San Jerónimo (Monterrey)
Cumbres (Monterrey)
Aviación (Guadalajara)
Bugambilias (Guadalajara)
Cordilleras (Guadalajara)
Acapulco Diamante (Acapulco)
Zihuatanejo (Zihuatanejo)
Bahía de Banderas (Bahía de Banderas)
Tezal (Los Cabos)

MEGA Soriana

MEGA Soriana is another subformat of Soriana Híper, created in 2017 following the acquisition of Comercial Mexicana. Soriana adopted the Mega name after obtaining 70 properties associated with the former Mega Comercial Mexicana format. This was the only brand from the acquisition that Soriana retained.

Mega Soriana stores are generally located in cities with more than 150,000 inhabitants and carry around 60,000 SKUs. In addition to standard Soriana Híper products, they offer gourmet foods, wines, and services previously associated with Mega Comercial Mexicana, such as Grand Café, Bocatto, and Fábrica de Quesos. Store interiors retain design elements from Comercial Mexicana, including coffee shops and bakeries. Their sales floor areas range from 4,500 to 14,000 m².

The first conversion occurred in March 2017, when Soriana Híper División del Norte (Mexico City) became Mega Soriana. In 2018, most former Comercial Mexicana and Mega Comercial Mexicana stores in central, southern, and southeastern Mexico were also converted, as well as some Bodega Comercial Mexicana units in the states of Mexico, Guerrero, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, and Morelos.

Main competitors include:

H-E-B
La Comer
Walmart Supercenter
Chedraui and Selecto Chedraui

Soriana Súper

Soriana Súper is a supermarket format created in 2008, derived from the acquisition of Tiendas Gigante. It was based on the original Super G stores. These stores focus on daily consumer products such as groceries, perishables, and prepared foods, designed to provide customers with agile and quick purchases. The sales floor area ranges from 500 to 4,000 m². Stores are typically located in three types of areas:

As a general supermarket format, Soriana Súper competes with:

In 2008, all Super G stores were converted into Soriana Súper (except one branch in Tijuana and two in Ensenada, which became Soriana Híper), as well as most Super MAZ stores and several Gigante and Bodega Gigante stores with sales areas under 4,000 m².

In 2015, Soriana acquired and converted four Super Frutería del Sol stores in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, into Soriana Súper.

In 2018, two Comercial Mexicana stores in Acapulco and Cancún were converted into Soriana Súper, as both had areas of less than 3,000 m².

Residential subdivisions with middle- and high-income populations.
Locations where the space or size does not allow for a Soriana Híper.
Cities with a significant number of former Gigante stores, which were converted into Soriana Súper.

Calimax
Sumesa (La Comer Group)
Walmart Express
Super Ley and Super Ley Express
Super Chedraui
Superbodega (Grupo Arteli)

Sub-formats

Soriana Súper operates two sub-formats: Soriana Súper Plus and Soriana Supermarket, both of which follow a "fresh market" concept.

Soriana Súper Plus

Introduced in 2011, Soriana Súper Plus is the premium sub-format of Soriana Súper. In addition to the standard product offering, these stores feature imported and specialty items such as exotic meats. The first Soriana Súper Plus was established on the site of Soriana Super Marne, a former Gigante store.

As a premium supermarket, its main competitors include:

Aladdin's
Selecto Chedraui
City Market (Grupo La Comer)

Soriana Supermarket

Launched in 2020, Soriana Supermarket is another fresh market sub-format. It offers groceries, perishable goods, prepared foods, wines, and gourmet products.

Its competitors include:

Soriana Mercado

Soriana Mercado was created in 2003 as a self-service warehouse format with an average sales floor area of 4,000 to 5,000 m². It is primarily aimed at cities with populations between 50,000 and 150,000 inhabitants, as well as popular areas in large and medium-sized cities where it is not feasible to establish a Soriana Híper store. The format focuses on fast-moving products in the grocery, perishables, and prepared food divisions, along with a limited selection of clothing and general merchandise. Stores generally feature modest decoration with a basic level of comfort.

In some cities, Soriana Mercado locations are later converted into Soriana Híper if demand increases, while in other cases they are converted into Soriana Express if demand is lower than expected.

As a self-service warehouse format, Soriana Mercado competes mainly with:

In 2008, Soriana converted most Bodega Gigante stores and some Gigante locations into Soriana Mercado. In 2018, Soriana transformed many of the 32 Bodega Comercial Mexicana stores into Soriana Mercado. In central Mexico, the Bodega Comercial Mexicana name was temporarily retained before being changed permanently to Soriana Mercado in 2019. That same year, the Comercial Mexicana Texcoco Aeropuerto store was converted into Soriana Mercado, due to its floor area of less than 4,900 m², which made conversion into a MEGA Soriana unfeasible.

Bodega Aurrerá
Chedraui and Super Che
Casa Ley
Until January 3, 2016, it also competed with Comercial Mexicana in its Bodega Comercial Mexicana format.

Soriana Express

Soriana Express is a sub-format of Soriana Mercado created in 2010. It is designed for areas, cities, or towns where neither Soriana Híper nor Soriana Mercado can be established, typically in municipalities with populations of 10,000 to 90,000. Stores have an average sales floor area of about 1,500 m² and are located mainly in lower- and middle-income areas. They offer a range of groceries, clothing, prepared foods, perishables, and general merchandise in a compact but comprehensive format.

As a rural supermarket, Soriana Express competes primarily with:

During the 2010s, Soriana converted some Gigante, Bodega Gigante, and Super MAZ stores into Soriana Express where conditions were suitable. In 2019, after temporarily using the Bodega Soriana name, Soriana rebranded three Alprecio stores as Soriana Express.

Mi Bodega Aurrerá
Ley Express and Súper Ley Express
Súper Kompras Micro
Súper Che
Independent local stores in each town where Soriana operates
Until January 3, 2016, it also competed with Alprecio, operated by Comercial Mexicana.

Overview

History

The Beginnings of La Soriana

Beginnings as a supermarket

Store formats

Soriana Híper

Promotions

Sponsor

Slogans and trade names

Evolution

Criticisms and controversies

2012 presidential election gift card scandal

See also

External links

References

The 1980s

The 1990s

2000–2007

Opening of store no. 100 and expansion into new states

Creation of new store formats: City Club, Mercado Soriana, and Súper City

Expansion in central Mexico; return to Baja California Norte

Opening of store no. 100 and expansion into new states

Creation of new store formats: City Club, Mercado Soriana, and Súper City

Expansion in central Mexico; return to Baja California Norte

2007–2008

Third supermarket acquisition: Supermercados Gigante; creation of the Soriana Súper format; expansion into new cities and transition to a national supermarket chain

Third supermarket acquisition: Supermercados Gigante; creation of the Soriana Súper format; expansion into new cities and transition to a national supermarket chain

2008–2014

2015–2018: Acquisition of Comercial Mexicana Stores

2018–Present: Store openings, closures, and Sodimac Homecenter expansion

Soriana Híper Plus

MEGA Soriana

Soriana Híper Plus

MEGA Soriana

Soriana Súper

Sub-formats

Soriana Súper Plus

Soriana Supermarket

Sub-formats

Soriana Súper Plus

Soriana Supermarket

Soriana Súper Plus

Soriana Supermarket

Notable Soriana Súper Plus and Soriana Supermarket locations

Soriana Mercado

Soriana Express

Soriana Express

City Club

Super City

Sodimac Homecenter

Soriana Súper Plus

Soriana Supermarket

Notable Soriana Súper Plus and Soriana Supermarket locations