The figure for investments in 2022 is 21.4% higher compared to the 1,400 million dollars that were used in 2021, however, these resources were below the 2,000 million that were projected at the beginning of that year. The investment figure for 2021 was the lowest since 2015, when 1,500 million dollars were exercised.
“When we give the investment perspective, it is the data that the associates give us, as well as the real one that they give us at the end of the year. Why were these investments not made? Well, because we are in a very difficult moment, the economy is not as we would like and the chains surely had to reduce the programmed investments and this is the result”, he declared.
The green epidemiological traffic light in most of the country’s entities favored December sales, which reported a 13.7% growth in units with more than a year in operation. Including new openings (total stores), it was 16%, considering the calendar effect, since in December there was one more Friday compared to the same month in 2020.
In the annual comparison, sales to same stores grew 13% and to total stores 15%. Total sales generated in 2021 accumulated 1.3 pesos, a growth of 2% compared to 2020. With this, they were 5% below the figures for 2019, the pre-pandemic year.
The best performance was that of the clothing and footwear category, which registered growth of 38.4% at same stores and 41.7% at total stores. Groceries and perishables grew 2.6% at same stores and 4.4% at total stores, while general merchandise reported an increase of 13.2% at same stores and 14.8% at total stores.
By format, self-services had a growth of 2.6% in the same stores and 4.2% in total stores. Department stores increased their sales by 28.9% to same stores and 30.8% to total stores, and specialized stores, such as shoe stores or pharmacies, presented a growth of 10.3% to same stores and 12.9% to total stores.