Wal-Mart Opens Escazú Location

Wal-MartCosta Rica opened a new Hipermás retail store in Escazú, a western suburb of San José, July 6. The 6,500-square-meter store cost a total of $17 million, of which $730,000 went for public works improvements in the area,Wal-Mart officials said.

The store opening clogged highways between Escazú and San José as shoppers scrambled to get a first look.

The new Hipermás is Wal-MartCosta Rica’s first store to have a distinctively Wal-Mart setup in the way products are laid out, and features the familiar Wal-Mart smiley face.

A similar Hipermás is set to open within a month in Cartago, east of San José. That will bring the total Hipermás stores operated by Wal-MartCosta Rica to six, along with 136 supermarkets of other brands, like Palí and Más X Menos.

In March of last year,Wal-Mart acquired a controlling stake in the Central American Holding Company, whose name was then changed to Wal-Mart Centroamérica.

The company controls 413 supermarkets throughout the region.

It plans to open 64 new stores in Central America by year’s end.