For Assaí, 2013 was a year of sales growth, consolidation of a new model of store, and strong organic expansion, with the entry into five new states in Brazil, which reinforces its national footprint and consolidates the current store model, which is more suitable for the profile of priority customers: resellers, transformers, and users.

Gross revenue for the year was R$6.8 billion, an increase of 34.1% over the year prior. Roughly 63.8% of this amount was due to sales at stores inaugurated during 2013 and that, as such, doesn’t yet represent performance for a full year. Same-store growth was 13.5%, sustained principally by increased customer flows.

Stores

Assaí’s strategy to expand to new marketplaces seeks to enhance the chain’s presence in Brazil, increasing its participation in states where it had not been present. One of the strengths of this strategy is the deployment of a new model of store, which functions as a mini distribution center (thanks to increases in sales floors and storage areas) and thus does not depend on logistical infrastructure, since deliveries are made directly by the supplier.

Assaí closed 2013 with a total of 75 stores, of which 14 were inaugurated during the year – totaling 20 with the new store model – and 55 with the old model, of which 14 were remodeled using a series of initiatives to modernize them.

With the new model of store, the banner entered into five states (Alagoas, Bahia, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Paraná), increasing its capillarity at the national level. With approximately 180,000 m2 of buildings, these units are characterized by having longer aisles and high ceilings, which facilitate loading, and increase by up to six times the capacity to stock merchandise.

Another marked characteristic of the new model is the store setting, which has covered parking, air conditioning and natural light. This package of initiatives resulted in stores that are better suited to the chain’s target customers, and generated the increase in the number of customers.