OfficeMax to Expand in Mexico
OfficeMax Inc. on Friday said it plans to invest about $100 million over five years with a Mexican partner to open 50 stores in Mexico as the country’s retail sector begins to recover.
“We are beating sales projections by about 30%,” Elmer Franco, executive vice president of OfficeMax Mexico, said during a store inauguration in Monterrey, Mexico’s second-largest city.
OfficeMax now operates five office-supplies stores in Mexico City and two in Monterrey. This year, the company will open two more in Mexico, Franco said, probably one in the Texas-Mexico border city of Juarez and another in the state of Mexico.
The Mexican stores are performing well as the country’s retailers show strong signs of recovery after retail sales dropped more than 20% in 1995.
The OfficeMax stores in Mexico are averaging yearly sales of about $6 million each, on par with their U.S. counterparts, Franco said.
OfficeMax, based in Shaker Heights, Ohio, has a 39% share in the Mexico joint venture, while Grupo Primax has the remaining 61% stake. OfficeMax has the option to increase its share in the partnership to 50%, Franco said.
OfficeMax shares fell 13 cents to close at $13.38 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has gained 24% this year.
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