Retail in Mexico: Cherokee to sell Sideout brand through Soriana

In this week's retail news, Cherokee, a "California lifestyle brand", has signed a 3 year agreement to sell and market their Sideout brand through Soriana.  The deal will include men's, women's, and children's clothing as well as footwear and accessories. 

Soriana has also announced the opening of 5 new stores in November.

Mexico's Retail Wars: Wal Mart vs. Soriana

In the past couple of weeks, TV commercials have been running in what seems to be the beginning of a new retail war - Wal Mart vs. Soriana.   

Wal Mart is going after Soriana's clients with spots that show Soriana customers comparing their grocery receipts with Wal Mart receipts for the same items.   The campaign is called "Desafio de Tickets", loosely translated as the "Receipt Challenge".

When Soriana purchased the Gigante stores, it became Mexico's second largest retailer.  People recognize Wal Mart as the low cost leader, but Soriana is a force to be reckoned with. 

The commercials have caught the attention of Mexico's PROFECO (Federal Bureau of Consumer Interests) who claim that the ads are misleading and after an investigation found several irregularities.



Soriana has accepted the challenge and launched their own commercial in response (sorry for the poor quality video):

Soriana's profit nearly doubles!

Soriana, a Mexican retailer based out of Monterrey, said it's Q1 2010 profits nearly doubled from a year ago.  Those are pretty amazing results considering all of the economic setbacks Mexico saw in 2009.  The company claims that a change in marketing strategy has lead to increased sales.

Soriana currently has over 471 stores across the Mexican Republic.

Soriana purchased the Gigante chain of supermarkets in 2007, and since then has seen tremendous growth.

Its expansion plans for 2010 include opening 40 new stores.