Sears in Latin America

Sears expanded into Latin America and Spain starting with a small store in Downtown Havana, Cuba in 1942. Sears opened its first store in Mexico City in 1947; the Mexican stores would later spin off into Sears Mexico, now owned by billionaire Carlos Slim's Grupo Sanborns, which by the end of 2022 operated 97 stores across Mexico.[1]

Sears had sales of US$78 million in Latin America in 1953. Over time, Sears expanded into:[2][3]

Country First
store 		No. stores 1954 Presence Employees
1954 		Sold/
Closed 		Remarks
 Brazil 1949 3 1954: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Santos 1,638 1990s 11 stores in 1993 when sold to Malzoni and Vendex, became Mappin stores or malls[4]
 Costa Rica n/a n/a n/a 1982-3[5]
 Colombia 1953 3 1954: Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cartagena 403
 Cuba 1942 6 1954: Havana, Cienfuegos, Holguín, Marianao, Santiago 511 1960 Expropriated for Castro's government,24 October 1960[6]
 Ecuador 1999 1 Guayaquil, Albán Borja shopping center 2003[7] In the 1980s, a Saga Sears operated in Ecuador
 El Salvador 2010/1[8] n/a n/a n/a operating Still in operation by Mexico's Grupo Sanborns
 Guatemala 1976, 2000 n/a n/a n/a 1982-3[5] Operated 1976–1982, and again since 2000, with 2 stores: Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango.[9]
 Honduras ?, 2000 n/a n/a n/a 1982–3,[5] 2016 Operated ?-1982/3, and again in 2000-2016
 Mexico
(article) 		1947 7 1954: Guadalajara, Mérida, Puebla, Mexico City–Colonia Roma, Monterrey, San Luis Potosí, Tampico
End 2022: 97 across Mexico.[10] 		2,146 n/a Operating with 97 stores as of end 2022.[10]
 Nicaragua 1965 n/a n/a n/a 1979 1965–1979[11][12]
 Panama ? n/a n/a n/a 2002 Operated ?-2002
 Peru 1954 1 1954: Lima 1991 Became Saga hen renamed Falabella
 Puerto Rico
(article) 		1961 n/a Operated 14 full-line department stores and various other formats over its lifespan. One full-line store remains open as of end 2023.
 Spain 1967 (1970: 2) 1970–1983: Barcelona, Madrid 1983 Opened in Barcelona 30 March 1967, opened in Madrid 8 April 1970.[13] Closed in January 1983, became Rumasa's Galerías Preciados.
 Venezuela 1950 6 1954: Barquisimeto, Caracas (opened 1950), Maracaibo (opened 1952, 12,000 m2, architect Tomás José Sanabria), Maracay, Puerto La Cruz. (Later also Ciudad Ojeda). 1,025 Eventually 3 stores in Caracas: Bello Monte (11,600 m2, Pro-Patria, El Marqués. Acquired by Grupo Cisneros[es]), renamed Maxys, which closed in 1997.[14]
  1. ^ "Acerca de Nosotros" [About Us]. Sears (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2022. Sears is currently a 100% Mexican company and has more than seventy-five stores throughout the country. It offers basic auto repair services and service contracts for the home appliances it sells.
  2. ^ "Sears to open in Peru", New York Times 22 December 1953
  3. ^ "Sears Expanding in Latin America; Bogota Store, to Open in Summer, Will Be 25th in Chain", New York Times, 8 March 1954
  4. ^ Liz Batista (21 August 2015). "Era uma vez em SP … lojas Sears" [Once upon a time in São Paulo there were … Sears stores]. Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "The Chicago-based Sears Roebuck & Co. announced Monday it will close its operations in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua for 'strictly economic causes.", UPI, November 1, 1982
  6. ^ Rioseco, Pedro (24 October 2021). "Aniversario 61 de la Nacionalización de Empresas de Estados Unidos". Contraloría General de la República de Cuba (Controller of the Republic of Cuba). Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Almacenes Sears se despiden del Ecuador". El Universo. 13 February 2003. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Tienda Sears llega a El Salvador - Market Data México". ElSalvador.com (in Spanish). www.centralamericadata.com. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Sears Guatemala es una cadena de tiendas por departamentos especializada en ofrecer productos de alta" (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  10. ^ a b Echeverría, Mara (29 June 2023). "Sears, la tienda de la familia Slim que en México tomó un camino diferente al de su quiebra en EU". Expansión (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  11. ^ "International Commerce". 13 September 1965. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  12. ^ Closure of Sears in Nicaragua, 1979
  13. ^ "Gran Inauguración de Sears". ABC. 8 April 1970. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  14. ^ "The Venezuela of Sears Roebuck", Steemit