While some close others open: meet some businesses that emerged in 2021

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People speculate and associate the new businesses that replace the demolished or bankrupt fast food chains with figures from the ruling government and/or the opposition. El Pitazo reflects through a list some businesses that said goodbye to the consumer and those that now replace them

Is there an official number of businesses that disappeared? Óscar Doval, director of Venecápital, confirms that there is no formal and reliable record of the businesses that closed in Caracas or in the interior of the country.

“Not even Consecomercio manages those figures (…) Most of the closed ones are small and independent businesses in the textile industry, costume jewelry, accessories, electrical appliances and household items, related to construction or repairs, as well as places of entertainment and expansion. This happens because they do not have the financial muscle or working capital to replenish inventory », he said in an interview with the media outlet.

El Pitazo tried to find out how many businesses said goodbye to the consumer and which others opened in 2021 through the list compiled by the team of correspondents in the different regions of Venezuela. This report shows some cases of firms that left or arrived.

Luis José Barreto, finance expert and executive director of Index Global Corp, explained in an interview with El Pitazo that “it is not correct to pretend to generate growth without producing. What we are doing is trading; we have a port economy regardless of who the businesses are (…) If you are an importer who resells, you are transferring inflation from the outside to the inside, that is why we see the increase in products ».

The businesses that closed were because they were already bad, not just last year and this year. Even during the sustained crisis in the country (...) The fact that McDonald's and Burger King disappeared is not because they are in bad shape financially, it is because they simply stopped seeing Venezuela as a profitable business

Regarding the country's own production, the economist and doctor of social sciences Carlos Hermoso explained, in a conversation with the media in November, that on Venezuelan soil "there is some recovery of the oil apparatus in some 100 thousand or 150 thousand barrels per day, but also a recovery in the price of oil on an international scale».

Hermoso suggests that strong income entered Venezuelan soil “from the sale of gold and other minerals, even so they are not known. It is known that there was income to the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) and others from underhand businesses that the government has had for smuggling or selling mineral products that allow draining a mass of dollars that far exceeds the participation of the main economic authority in the foreign exchange market.

Does El Pitazo wonder if it is the bolibourgeoisie that invests in Venezuela after the sanctions imposed by the United States? People speculate and associate the new luxury businesses that replace the demolished or bankrupt franchises with figures from the ruling government and the opposition. There is no certainty of who the owners are, but doubts abound.

Most of the closed ones are small and independent businesses in the textile industry, costume jewelry, accessories, electrical appliances and household items, related to construction or repairs, as well as places of entertainment and expansion. This happens because they do not have the financial muscle or working capital to replenish inventory.

The country's economy went back 70 years according to the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) index and at least 621 bodegones were built in the Capital District, Zulia, Mérida, Miranda and Barinas from 2020 to 2021, according to the field study: bodegones , consumers, dollarization, salary and perspectives, published in April of this year by the University of Oslo, Norway; Center for Development and Environment (SUM) and the Center for Worker Research and Training (CIFO), Venezuela.

In Barreto's opinion, the business model applied in the country is retail, which is characterized by retail or retail trade. However, there are also businesses that offer products by volume, such as supermarkets, pharmacies and still lifes that are currently located in areas with high purchasing power: Las Mercedes, Bello Monte, Altamira, el Cafetal and Alto Prado, in the case of Caracas.

For the specialist in the stock market, retail is not suitable for the economic growth of Venezuela, because most of these establishments arose from fashion trends "that make you lose money without a vision of the future, sustainability or market research." international and financial” that indirectly affects the territory such as the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 in the United States, mentions Barreto.

“The crisis in Venezuela coincides perfectly with the fall of oil in the stock markets in 2008, but it was noticeable when it began to lose liquidity as of 2011. We are not far from what is happening in the global market”, emphasizes the director Executive of Index Global Corp.

Fast food franchises withdraw

The interior of the country does not escape this reality, where businesses with a regional background cannot market their products. The citizen notices how new spaces replace those emblematic and franchised premises of the towns.

“The businesses that closed were because they were already bad, not just last year and this year. Even during the sustained crisis in the country (...) The fact that McDonald's and Burger King disappeared is not because they are financially bad, it is because they simply stopped seeing Venezuela as a profitable business as it was at the time," says Luis José. Barreto, CEO of Index Global Corp.

Fast food chains are sustained not by the sale of hamburgers and the public experience in the restaurant, they do so through the rental and purchase of real estate so that franchisee applicants pay them to use the brand name, sell your menu and later aspire to make the property yours. The expert in future markets states that the people who acquired the business licenses for three to four years, unfortunately lost the investment because the return on it is recovered in an optimistic period of 12 years.

Óscar Doval, president of the Venezuelan subsidiary of the British consultancy firm Moore, adds that the few remaining fast food branches survive "because of their equity strength, although they have been forced to radically reduce their operating costs by laying off staff, shortening their schedules and even closing stores or service points that could not cover their expenses.

We present the list of some businesses that ceased operations in 2021:

– Central Madeira in Barquisimeto, Lara.

Since August 2020, the bankruptcy of the branch of the Las Trinitarias shopping center has been reported. Subsequently, they closed the branches of the El Recreo and Los Próceres shopping centers and the last one was in Los Leones. The supermarket chain last published in August 2021 about the operation of this headquarters.

On October 5, 2021, the National Superintendence for the Defense of Socioeconomic Rights of Venezuela (Sundde) ordered the closure of five offices in Caracas, Capital District, for non-compliance with the Organic Law of Fair Prices in its articles 46 and 49.

my mom trynna tell me how to make bread when all she does is defrost premade dough and bakes it.. girl, nah

— whatsername Mon Feb 15 23:43:05 +0000 2021

January:– Hotel Stauffer in Maturín, Monagas.

March:– Burger King in Maturín, Monagas.– Wendy's in La Castellana in Caracas, Capital District.

The franchise, which began operating in the country in 1997 in partnership with Wenco Fast Food Service, CA, made the decision to withdraw from Venezuelan soil after the headquarters located in Ohio, United States, did not renew the operating permit. The official departure began on March 30 throughout the country.

April:– Locatel in Maturín, Monagas.– McDonald's in Cabudare, Lara. They removed the famous M.

May:– Zara and Bershka throughout the Venezuelan soil.

On May 20, 2021, it was announced that both clothing and footwear stores received a ban on marketing the brand, where Industria de Diseño Textil, SA, known as Inditex, requested to auction off all merchandise in stock after the scandal in which The company founded by Amancio Ortega was linked to the airline Plus, a company owned by magnate Camilo Ibrahim Issa, the same man who ran the franchises of Spanish brands in the country.

– McDonald's in Maturin, Monagas.

June:– Wendy's in Maturín, Monagas.

July:– Burger King in Cumaná, Sucre.– McDonald's in Cumaná, Sucre.– Francys III Supermarket in Cumaná, Sucre.– Francys II Supermarket in Carúpano, Sucre.– Hotel San Francisco in Carúpano, Sucre.– Trak Department Store, located in Carúpano, Sucre. Low sales were the cause of the closure.

November: McDonald's in Barinas, Barinas.

Search for spaces and dollars

Just as dozens of companies went bankrupt or preferred to close in the midst of the pandemic, other options emerged that compete with each other for consumer preference.

The financial coach, Óscar Doval highlights in the interview granted to the media that regardless of the target audience to which the new businesses are directed, where 7% to 10% of consumers belong to socioeconomic levels A, B and C; the population must recognize that they are an important source of employment. The finance expert understands “that the MoDo restaurant employs more than 300 people directly. In addition to this, they undoubtedly collaborate with providing, within the economic bubble in which they live, the perception of economic prosperity and activation of the national productive apparatus, even if it is a mirage».

El Pitazo listed a few:

March:– Multimax electrical appliance store in Maturín, Monagas.– San Valentín Pharmacies in Barquisimeto, Lara.

In the month of March and July they began to operate with two branches. The group currently has 12 pharmacies in the state and its greatest expansion has been after the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020.

July:– Clarks shoe store in Barquisimeto, Lara.

August:– Novita (furniture and decoration) in Barquisimeto, Lara.– Merkafur still life in Cabudare, Lara.

The sale of imported products is located in the former headquarters of the McDonald's franchise.

– Bodegón SI Market in Barquisimeto, Lara.– Sixth branch of Farmacias Girasol in Barquisimeto, Lara.– Granier Cafeteria in Caracas, Capital District.– Farma Exprés Delicias in Maracaibo, Zulia. The chain has more than 10 branches in the city.

September:– Ivoo electrical appliance store, located in Barinas, Barinas.– Multimax electrical appliance store, located in Barinas, Barinas.

October:– Total Tools hardware store in Barquisimeto, Lara.– DC Shoes shoe store in Barquisimeto, Lara.– Red Vital pharmacy in Barquisimeto, Lara.– Bodegón Nuvo Market in Barquisimeto, Lara.– Mango Bajito (Department store) in Caracas, Distrito Capital.– Twelve Nightclub in Caracas, Capital District.

November:– Telepila technology store in Barquisimeto, Lara.– Mr. Price clothing and footwear store in Barquisimeto, Lara.– Felicetta Il Mercato Restaurant and still life Barquisimeto, Lara.– Anakena clothing and footwear store in Barquisimeto, Lara.– Amazon Depot in Caracas, Capital District.– Multimax Store department store in Sucre, Cumaná.– The Fiorella supermarket chain opens two new branches in Maracaibo, Zulia.

Fiorella Circunvalación II works at the headquarters of another successful chain of supermarket stores that disappeared from the entire city, such as Centro 99, with more than 25 years of experience. And Fiorella Doral Mall in the Doral Mall Shopping Center, north of the city.

December:– Total footwear, food and household items, located in Barinas.– Mossimo clothing store in Barquisimeto, Lara.– San Ignacio Pharmacies in Lara.

The establishment opened three branches in the last month of the year in Barquisimeto, Cabudare and Sanare. The rest of the year opened at least another five in the state.

– Mara Plus pharmacy chain in Maracaibo, Zulia.

About eight branches of this chain operate in Maracaibo. On December 21, he inaugurated one on Bellavista Avenue.

– Justo y Bueno supermarket chain in Maracaibo, Zulia.– Mango Center (Hardware and household items) in Cabudare, Lara.– MoDo restaurant in Caracas, Capital District.– Yeet food store in Caracas, Capital District.– Red Pharmacy Vital in Caracas, Capital District.

The pharmaceutical network that provides medical supplies and hospital furniture with more than 40 years in the market and the largest in Latin America, has seven branches in Caracas, Barquisimeto, Maracay, San Diego, Guacara and Los Guayos.

In the last month of the year, only in the capital region, two businesses were involved in controversy for illegally using the name and/or image of two well-known American companies such as Amazon and Starbucks, a coffee shop located in the Yeet Market bodegón that did not have with the endorsement of Nestlé or the multinational.

On December 27, 2021, the Venezuelan Trade Federation (Fedecomercio) expelled the company Yeet Venezuela, CA for having illegally installed and marketed the brand's products.

“We have to stop being pirates. Do you think that the big capitals see Venezuela as a serious country to invest in? At what point can smart money come in when there is this duality of people who can't eat and others drive a Ferrari on the potholed tracks? Do you think that companies like Walmart are not aware of these things?” asks Luis José Barreto, an expert in finance, who maintains that it is unfeasible for heavy international companies to introduce money into the country when there is no guarantee that the government turn to set up the competition next door, or take away your property as in the case of Kellogg's in 2018.

What will 2022 be like? Will there be more business?

According to the specialists consulted by El Pitazo, the construction of new commercial premises as sources of employment in the country will increase by 2022. Online platforms will continue to be a profitable business option from the point of view of service, with a good branding, added to a differentiating value proposal.

Venecápital foresees a growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) of 5 and 10 percent, which could translate into an increase of 20 to 30 percent in sales and consumption. The proliferation of premises aimed at the segment of the population with greater purchasing power, as well as less luxurious undertakings, will not cease.

«What I still do not see next year is a significant activation of the construction, oil or energy sector. For that there is still a good time, "warns the financial advisor Óscar Doval.

Do you know other businesses that closed or opened in 2021 in your area and we did not mention? Help us complete the list by sharing this information and adding comments to this note.