Wong (supermarket) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Wong () is a
In 1942, Erasmo Wong, a Chinese-Peruvian, opened a small store at a corner in the ''Av. 2 de Mayo'', in a residential area in San Isidro. Originally a family business, the store kept growing and in 1983, the first store of the present-day Wong supermarket chain was inaugurated. The next store to be opened was located in ''Ovalo Gutiérrez'', in Miraflores. Some years later, stores in Santiago de Surco were also opened; and by 1995, Wong had five stores all around Lima.
Wong's growth was characterized by going against market trends, being more customer-service–oriented instead of the more usual self-service and investing during some of the Peruvian economy's hardest times.
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong (Supermarket) Supermarkets of Peru Retail companies established in 1942 1942 establishments in Peru 2007 mergers and acquisitions
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 ...
chain in Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
. Known until 2005 as E. Wong, it was started as a small store in 1942 by Chinese Peruvian
Chinese Peruvians, also known as ''tusán'' (a loanword from ), are Peruvian citizens whose ancestors came from China. They are people of overseas Chinese ancestry born in Peru or who have made Peru their adopted homeland. 14,307 Peruvians claim ...
s in a residential area
A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.
Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...
of the Miraflores District in Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
. Today, 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 M ...
has 18 supermarkets Wong.
History and development
In 1942, Erasmo Wong, a Chinese-Peruvian, opened a small store at a corner in the ''Av. 2 de Mayo'', in a residential area in San Isidro. Originally a family business, the store kept growing and in 1983, the first store of the present-day Wong supermarket chain was inaugurated. The next store to be opened was located in ''Ovalo Gutiérrez'', in Miraflores. Some years later, stores in Santiago de Surco were also opened; and by 1995, Wong had five stores all around Lima.
Wong's growth was characterized by going against market trends, being more customer-service–oriented instead of the more usual self-service and investing during some of the Peruvian economy's hardest times.
Company information
Wong focuses on bringing customers product variety and a highly personalized service. It is widely known that Wong treats its employees (and customers too) very well. For example, instead of calling them “workers”, they call them “collaborators”. Therefore, it has earned several awards for the excellence of its service. The ''Gran Corso de Fiestas Patrias'', a largeparade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...
held annually a few weeks before July 28, the day of Peruvian independence, is organized by Wong and attended by more than 100,000 persons. The parade is usually celebrated in Miraflores and ends with a fireworks
Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
display.
Buyout and market share
On December 16, 2007 it was announced that Wong was bought by the Chilean companyCencosud
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 M ...
, the 100% of the assets from Wong were sold for an amount of 500 million dollars to the Chilean group, 200 in cash and 300 in stocks from the Chilean corporation.
This action, plus the fact that this very possibility was denied by Efraín Wong himself mere months earlier http://www.larepublica.com.pe/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=163314&Itemid=0 was taken very negatively by the Peruvian populace; marking the beginning of a slow decline in Wong market share.
The 2008 Independence Day Parade was viewed by many as a fiasco since Wong no longer had the required "nationalism" to hold such an event, however, its attendance still overshadowed a copycat event by rival Supermercados Peruanos.
As of September 2008, Wong market share has decreased to less than 30% of the market (from a high of 44% two years earlier) and shows no signs of going back up. Adding this to the fact that prices in Wong — being slowly standardized to Cencosud's levels — have risen by 11% overall in the last year, shows an uncertain future for Peru's former king of supermarkets.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong (Supermarket) Supermarkets of Peru Retail companies established in 1942 1942 establishments in Peru 2007 mergers and acquisitions