Casas Bahia

Via Varejo S.A.
Subsidiary
Industry Retail
Genre Department stores
Founded 1952
Founder Samuel Klein
Headquarters São Caetano do Sul, Brazil
Number of locations
 745
Area served
 Brazil
Key people
 Michael Klein, (CEO)[1]
Products Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewellery, beauty products, electronics, toys, tools, sports equipment, appliances, housewares
Revenue Increase R$ 17.228 billion (2015)[2]
Number of employees
 57,500 (2014)[3]
Parent Via Varejo
Website www.casasbahia.com.br

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. The chain is currently owned by Grupo Pão de Açúcar, which has purchased it in December 2009.[5]

Casas Bahia is a recipient of a number of awards in recognition of its retail excellence.[6]

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.[7] 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 March 2016, the company has 745 stores in Brazil. The state with the largest number of Casas Bahia stores is São Paulo, with 324 stores.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Management and Board of Directors", Viavarejo. Retrieved on 26 June 2013.
  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. ↑ Marcelino, Francisco; Fontana, Camila. (2009-12-04). Pao De Acucar Agrees to Buy Casas Bahia; Shares Jump. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aRn2WP20kfow. Bloomberg. Retrieved in 01-21-2010
  6. ↑ "Awards and Recognition", Viavarejo, 28 January 2013. Retrieved on 26 June 2013.
  7. ↑ Allen L. Hammond, C.K. Prahalad, Selling to the Poor, Foreign Policy, May/June 2004
  8. ↑ "Our Stores", Viavarejo. Retrieved 27 June 2016.

External links

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