Grocery and department store chain Chedraui plans to open 33 new stores in Mexico and the United States in 2022.

The company will open five large Súper Chedraui stores, one Chedraui store and 25 smaller Supercito stores in Mexico. It will introduce two new stores in the U.S. under the Smart & Final brand it bought in May 2021.

The new additions will expand its sales floor in Mexico by 1.6% and by 0.6% in the U.S.

Chedraui said it was investing about 2.1% of its revenue in the new stores and that it projects a 4.5% growth in sales in Mexico, which would signal 12% sales growth in the country over two years.

The director of analysis at commodities trader Intercam Casa de Bolsa, Alejandra Marcos, said the future looked bright for the chain. “These numbers are positive, and they are aligned with our projections. Chedraui has been a vendor that has demonstrated a strong ability to integrate various acquisitions. It has a solid balance sheet and has benefited from the current environment,” she said.

Chedraui opened its first supermarket in 1971 in Xalapa, Veracruz, having been founded as a clothing store 44 years earlier by Lebanese immigrants. It operates more than 200 stores in central and southern Mexico and is the third largest retailer after Walmart and Soriana.

With reports from Real Estate Market