Casas Bahia

Casas Bahia (English: Bahia Houses) is a Brazilian retail chain which specializes in furniture and home appliances. It was founded in 1952 in São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo, by Polish immigrant Samuel Klein,[4] who began his career as a peddler selling products to migrant workers from the Brazilian Northeast. Since June 2019, the Klein family own a controlling stake in Via Varejo, which owns Casas Bahia.[5]

Via Varejo S.A.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail
GenreDepartment stores
Founded1952
FounderSamuel Klein
Headquarters
São Caetano do Sul
,
Brazil
Number of locations
857
Area served
Brazil
Key people
Michael Klein, (CEO)[1]
ProductsClothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewellery, beauty products, electronics, toys, tools, sports equipment, appliances, housewares
Revenue R$ 17.228 billion (2015)[2]
Number of employees
57,500 (2014)[3]
ParentVia Varejo
Websitewww.casasbahia.com.br

The company's mascot is "Bahianinho" (Little Bahian), a toothy little boy wearing a cangaceiro hat which has been present since 1979.[6] In 2020 the character was redesigned as a modern dark-skinned teenager wearing a baseball cap inscribed with the initial letters "CB," but this redesign received a mixed to negative reception from the public.[7]

Operations

Casas Bahia, unlike many of its competitors, does not rely on an internet presence as a cornerstone of its strategy—only in February 2009 it launched its online store, pressed by an increasing number of online sales in Brazil.

Rather, Casas Bahia makes the majority of its profit by charging interest on installment plan purchases, making it possible for low-income customers to purchase products which they would not be able to pay off in a single payment.

Another sales technique of the store is to locate cashiers in the back of the store, which requires clients to pass by all the products on the floor each month in order to pay their next monthly payment. Salespeople also consider the lines at the cashiers appropriate potential sales targets (which they refer to as bocas de caixa "open cashiers").

As of 2004, the company employed 22,000 people and was generating $2 billion in profits.[8] By 2010, it had more than 500 stores in eleven states (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and even Bahia), besides the Federal District.

As of July 2020, the company has 857 stores in Brazil. The state with the largest number of Casas Bahia stores is São Paulo, with 358 stores.[9]

References
  1. "Directors, Executive Officers and Committees", Via Varejo. Retrieved on 7 March 2017.
  2. "Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Results", Grupo Pão de Açúcar. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  3. "Sine de Campina Grande abre nova seleção para Casas Bahia". EcoFinancas. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  4. International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 75 (2004) by Robert Halasz
  5. Bautzer, Tatiana & Mandl, Carolina (14 June 2019). "Control of Brazil retailer Via Varejo shifts to Klein family from GPA". Reuters. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  6. "Casas Bahia mostra evolução do seu mascote". Mundo do Marketing (in Portuguese). 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  7. "Casas Bahia atualiza mascote: 'Baianinho' cresce e vira adolescente, o 'CB'". Uol (in Portuguese). 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  8. Allen L. Hammond, C.K. Prahalad, Selling to the Poor, Foreign Policy, May/June 2004
  9. "Our Stores", Via Varejo. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
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