Alfredo Coto (born October 9, 1941) is an Argentine businessman.

Life

Alfredo Coto was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in 1941. His father, Joaquín Coto, was an

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from

Galicia (Spain) Galicia (; gl, Galicia or ; es, Galicia}; pt, Galiza) is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and ...

, and the owner of a small

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesal ...

shop in the Retiro section of the city. Working alongside his father from age nine, and joining him in neighborhood deliveries, Coto became a wholesaler in 1963, buying rump roast and other cuts from a

Kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

butcher who could not use them.Majul, Luis. ''Los nuevos ricos de la Argentina''. Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana, 1997. He opened his own,

Boedo Boedo is a working-class ''barrio'' or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The neighborhood and one of its principal streets were named after Mariano Boedo, a leading figure in the Argentine independence. It is the home of San Lorenzo de A ...

neighborhood retail butcher in 1969, and managed the shop with his wife, Gloria.''La Nación'': Alfredo Coto, un imperio tras las góndolas
Building on the customer base that the couple had cultivated through wholesale delivery, Coto owned 20 shops by 1976, and began supplying

steakhouse A steakhouse, steak house, or chophouse refers to a restaurant that specializes in steaks and chops, found mainly in North America. Modern steakhouses may also carry other cuts of meat including poultry, roast prime rib, and veal, as well as f ...

s. He purchased a

cattle ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

in 1978, and in 1981, a

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

, thus becoming his own supplier. Coto's success made him a target, however, and in 1981, he was held for 11 days in a ransom

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

. Operating 34 retail outlets by 1987, each averaging around 40 tons of

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

and

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but usually excludes muscle. Offal may also refe ...

sales a month, he opened his first

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

Mar de Ajó Mar de Ajó is a coastal city in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and is located in the southern end of the seaside La Costa Partido (the Coast District). The region is known as the Tuju Corner (Rincón del Tuyú). Etymology It owes its name to ...

(a seaside tourist destination).

Coto Supermarkets Coto C.I.C.S.A., (mostly known for its tradename Coto) is an Argentine supermarket chain founded by Alfredo Coto in 1970 as a butcher shop. The first ''Coto'' supermarket was opened in the city of Mar de Ajó in La Costa Partido in 1987.

expanded rapidly afterwards, and in 1992, he opened his first

hypermarket A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...

. The company opened five

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

s from the late 1990s onwards (each anchored by a Coto hypermarket), as well as a wholesale distribution and production center in

Monte Grande Monte Grande is a city which forms part of the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires. It is the administrative seat of Esteban Echeverría Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on April 3, 1889, by a company named ''Soc ...

.''Clarín'': Coto lanza dos hipermercados y un centro de distribución
The chain, a

sole proprietorship A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole tradership, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise owned and run by one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. A sole ...

, remained a

private company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

; a '' Clarín'' article at the time, however, outlined that by 1996, it netted over a billion

US dollars The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from Dollar, other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American ...

in sales, and that its

net income In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, a ...

exceeded US$31 million. Coto and his chain were reportedly the targets of

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

during 1996 and 1997, when bombs were placed in five outlets by the self-styled People's Revolutionary Organization. More fortunate than other targets, the Coto chain suffered no damages, and the group was later apprehended by police. The acquisition of the Norte chain by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

retailer

Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, which ...

in 2000 left Coto as the largest domestic supermarket retailer in Argentina, and Coto remained third overall (behind Carrefour and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an retailer

Cencosud Cencosud S.A. is a publicly traded multinational retail company. It's the largest retail company in Chile and the third largest listed retail company in Latin America, competing with the Brazilian Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição and the Mex ...

). The largest domestic grocer in a country where

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

is problematic, as well as perennially contentious in politics, Coto was personally criticized in a November 2005 press conference by President

Néstor Kirchner Néstor Carlos Kirchner (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, Governor of Santa Cruz Province from 1991 to 2003, Secretary General of UNASUR and ...

, who, discussing retailers' role in rising inflation, referred to the businessman using the company's slogan, ''yo te conozco'' ("I know you"). Coto maintained cordial relations with the government, however, and himself later downplayed the inflation issue.''Crítica de la Argentina'': Coto minimizó alcances de la inflación

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coto, Alfredo 1941 births Living people Businesspeople from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine businesspeople