Cencosud Peru

Cencosud Peru is the Peruvian retail operation of Chilean retail group Cencosud S.A. The supplied Spanish-language encyclopedia entry also refers to the operation as Grupo Wong. Its principal consumer-facing grocery formats are Wong and Metro, which operate supermarkets and hypermarkets. The entry describes a network of more than 87 stores and lists operations across Lima, Callao, Arequipa, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Lambayeque, Ica, Cajamarca, Piura, Barranca, Huancayo, Huánuco and Nuevo Chimbote. The business has roots in the Wong grocery operation. A small Lima neighborhood grocery store associated with Erasmo Wong (father) is described as having existed from around 1942; his son Erasmo Wong founded the first store of the emerging company in Miraflores in 1983. The business expanded under the E.Wong name, added the Metro format, and was acquired by Cencosud in 2007. Following the acquisition, the Peruvian operation continued to expand and develop its supermarket and hypermarket formats. The former Wong owners sold their remaining participation in Cencosud in 2010, according to the supplied history. In addition to grocery retail, Cencosud Peru has a shopping-center operation identified as Cencosud Shopping Centers. The cited entry names Cenco La Molina, Cenco Lima Sur, Centro Cultural Plaza Camacho, Balta Shopping and Cenco Arequipa Center among its operated properties. Cencosud’s corporate website describes the parent as a multi-format retailer with operations in Peru and several other markets, but the supplied evidence does not provide a separate headquarters, founding date, executive roster or detailed current financial information for the Peruvian operation.

The history associated with Cencosud Peru in the supplied Spanish-language entry begins with the Wong grocery business in Lima. It says that a small neighborhood grocery store administered by Erasmo Wong (father) existed around 1942. His children set out to develop the business, and Erasmo Wong (son) founded the first store of the emerging company in the Miraflores district in 1983. The business initially traded as E.Wong and had five Lima stores by 1990. The Metro brand began with the opening of its first hypermarket in Chorrillos on November 6, 1992. In 1993, E.Wong acquired two competitors, Galax and Todos, adding five stores in Lima. By 1999, the group had opened its fifteenth store and introduced Metro as a supermarket format, extending its presence to additional Lima districts. A discount format, Eco Almacenes, was launched in March 2005, and in July of that year E.Wong refreshed its identity and became Wong. The business expanded beyond Lima in 2007, including through the acquisition of all shares in Merpisa, which helped extend its stores to Trujillo. That year, Chilean group Cencosud acquired the Wong supermarket chain. In 2008, the Wong supermarket group acquired Supermercados El Centro, adding six stores in Chiclayo and Cajamarca; the cited entry says those stores were converted to Metro supermarkets. Cencosud also opened Metro hypermarkets in Lima and began converting Eco Almacenes locations to Metro. The entry records further expansion and format changes in 2009 and 2010, including the closure of two American Outlet stores, the introduction of a Hiper Wong format at Plaza Norte, and additional Wong and Metro openings in Lima and other cities. On March 9, 2010, the Wong group sold the remaining participation it held in Cencosud. The operation continued opening stores in Lima, Trujillo, Arequipa, Chiclayo, Ica and other locations during 2010 and 2011. The available evidence describes a later Peruvian operation spanning Wong and Metro supermarkets and hypermarkets, as well as Cencosud Shopping Centers properties. It does not establish a distinct founding date for Cencosud Peru as a corporate entity or provide a complete account of its subsequent development.

• 2010

  Wong family sells remaining Cencosud participation

• 2008

  Supermercados El Centro acquisition

• 2007

  Cencosud acquires Wong

• 2005

  Eco Almacenes launch and Wong rebrand

• 1999

  Fifteenth store and Metro supermarket format

• 1993

  Acquisition of Galax and Todos

• 1992

  First Metro hypermarket opens

• 1983

  First store of the emerging Wong business

• 1942

  Wong grocery-store roots in Lima

A multi-format Peruvian retail operation within Cencosud, combining the Wong and Metro grocery-store brands with shopping-center operations.

• Wong

  Supermarket and hypermarket brand operating in Peru.

• Metro

  Supermarket and hypermarket brand operating in Peru.

• Cencosud Shopping Centers

  Shopping-center operator identified in the supplied entry as operating several Peruvian properties.

• 2009

  Closure of American Outlet storesOther

1. 1Cencosud | Cencosudcencosud.com
2. 2Nuestra Empresa | Cencosudcencosud.com
3. 3Cencosud Perúes.wikipedia.org
4. 4Cencosud Peruwikidata.org