Disco (supermarket chain)

Disco is an Argentine supermarket chain. It is one of many supermarket chains part of the Chilean retail conglomerate Cencosud, after it was acquired from the Dutch retailer Ahold in 2004.[2] In Argentina, Cencosud also owns the upscale hypermarket chain Jumbo and the budget oriented supermarket chain Vea.

For the Uruguayan supermarket chain, see Supermercados Disco del Uruguay.
Disco
TypeSubsidiary
IndustrySupermarkets
FoundedSan Isidro, Buenos Aires, 1961[1]
HeadquartersMartínez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
ParentCencosud
Websitedisco.com.ar

History

Supermercados Disco opened in 1961 in Argentina. In 1967, a Uruguayan family bought 50% of the Argentine brand's stock, increasing their interest to 100% in 1981. The Uruguayans retained ownership of Disco until 1984.[3]

During the 1960s, Disco's first decade as a supermarket chain, it competed directly with other well known Argentine supermarkets such as Norte, Gigante, and Tía, all of which were large, national supermarket chains, and with smaller, family-owned supermarket operations across the country.

In 1997, Disco bought the supermarket chain Vea for 210 million USD, getting complete ownership of the company. This purchase turned Disco into the second biggest food retailer in the country at the time, behind Carrefour.[4] At that time, most of Disco's shares belonged to the Uruguayan Velox Holdings group. Velox also owned the Chilean chain Santa Isabel, that would later become part of Cencosud as well.[5]

Exterior and interior of a Buenos Aires Disco store

In early 1998, Dutch food retailer Royal Ahold purchased a 25% stake in Disco as well as a 18.5% stake in Santa Isabel from Velox, creating a new partnership named Disco-Ahold International. The buyout of Disco was valued at 368 million USD.[6] Later that year, Ahold would get an increasingly bigger share of Disco until it bought the remaining 48% in an operation valued at 160 million USD, after which the company was delisted from the NYSE to be made private.[7]

Ahold's 2003 accounting scandal ended with the resignation of the entire directory of Disco, and rumors of a possible sale of the Argentine subsidiary started to become public.[8]

Finally, in 2004, Disco was acquired by Chilean retail giant Cencosud for USD 315 million, solidifying its stronghold in the Argentine retail market together with hypermarket chain Jumbo and home improvement chain Easy.[9][10][2]

In 2007, Cencosud started to convert some Disco branches to the budget-oriented Súper Vea banner in order to better be able to compete in lower income demographics. At the time, 120 locations were operating under the Disco name.[11]

As of 2018, the company operates 76 locations, mostly in Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Santa Fe provinces.[12]

References
  1. "Disco Argentina: Rediseño de la imagen corporativa del disco". Premios Eikon (in Spanish). 31 May 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2019. English translation
  2. "Ahold y Cencosud alcanzan un acuerdo para la compra de los supermercados Disco". LARED21 (in Spanish). 6 March 2004. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  3. "Disco Supermercados". prezi.com. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  4. "Disco pagó 210 millones por los supermercados Vea". www.clarin.com (in Spanish). Clarín. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  5. "Los dueños de Disco van tras una cadena chilena". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  6. "Un grupo holandés compró el 25% de la cadena Disco". www.clarin.com (in Spanish). Clarín.
  7. Newswires, Dow Jones. "Royal Ahold, Velox Launch Bid For Rest of Argentine Chain Disco". WSJ. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  8. Sainz, Alfredo (28 February 2003). "Renunció la cúpula de Disco por el escándalo de Ahold". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  9. "Cencosud tiene socios para comprar Disco". La Gaceta (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  10. Sainz, Alfredo (2 November 2004). "Jumbo concretó la compra de Disco". La Nacion (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  11. "Para pelear en precios, Disco se transforma en Súper Vea". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  12. "Norte en Línea - Disco reinaugura su sucursal de La Horqueta". www.norteenlinea.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2019.
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