Here is mall #2 from Ciudad Juarez, the Plaza Juarez Mall. This mall appears to be the oldest out of the malls I visited in the metro area. The interior of the mall appears to have been recently renovated, but parts of the mall still have retro touches. The first walkthrough of the mall was before most of the stores had opened for the day. This was also a local holiday so some stores did not open for the day.
The anchors here are Soriana, Coppel, and Cimaco. As you can see the mall is well lit and very clean. This mall appears to be very successful and has a huge variety of stores and food options.
Sounds will be shown later in the article, it is a Sam Goody/FYE type of store.
This jewelry store had a very retro storefront.
Most of these stores opened up at 11am.
One of the 2 anchors at the mall Cimaco is similar to Dillard's.
This is the East entry to the mall.
Part of the food court, once I started walking down this hall the employees of the restaurants were trying to lure me in to eat.
More of the food court
Waldo's is a dollar tree clone. Nothing special, just cheap stuff.
The center court of the mall at Cimaco
From the outside, this mall did not appear to be that large. I was surprised once inside of the way the space is consolidated. There were well over 100 stores and food outlets inside of the mall. The mall has a section where the corridor splits into two hallways and joins back together.
Farmacias Benavidas is owned by Walgreens and has locations all over Mexico.
Soriana is a direct Mexican competitor to Walmart. Here we enter the Soriana in the mall.
The Soriana stores I visited had the retail items in the front half of the store and the grocery in the back half of the store.
Bed sheets and linens
A look down the main back aisle separating the groceries from the retail side of the store.
Now we look at the grocery section of the store.
The slogan on this sign roughly translates to I love to save.
This store had a lot of clothes that were of similar quality to what you find at Walmart.
Bikes, sporting goods, toys.
Deli counter
Outdoor furniture and garden.
Appliances and outdoor furniture.
Appliances and electronics
Electronics
Vintage Xbox and PlayStation video game cabinets.
One more look inside of Soriana before we head back into the mall. The entrance to a Famsa store is all the way across the store past the checkouts.
Back into the mall, we see a junior anchor Coppel. We also see the modern design of the ceiling in this corridor.
Looking towards the main mall corridor.
Now we will visit Coppel. At the entrance they have these motorbikes. Coppel is a throwback to the smaller discount variety stores that were popular in the 1970's and 1980's.
And wall of TV's.
Lots of electronics too.
And of course video games. Video games and electronics are more expensive across the border when compared to the US Dollar. 20% or more on average.
Bikes and sporting goods here too.
Batteries
Lots of variety in this small store footprint.
Shoes, and the bank for financing in the left background.
Clothes and jewelry.
Appliances and electronics.
A quick snapshot of the Coppel mall entrance.
Now we enter a nearby store called Sounds. Sounds is like Sam Goody or FYE with a little bit of Radio Shack.
The back of the store reminded me of Radio Shack with DIY parts and replacement items for electronics.
The lightshow in the corner was cool.
The main aisle of the store looks very cool.
Back into the mall, more stores are starting to open up at this point.
Here is the final anchor Cimaco.
Lots of higher quality clothes are sold here.
Electronics in a department store that isn't Sears!
Now this small video game room is an awesome touch.
You know I had to go check it out!
I just have to say it again, electronics and video games in a department store is awesome.
Furniture and small appliances.
The main aisle across the store had this cool light all the way across.
Air conditioners.
Jewelry and Women's clothing.
Back out into the mall for a last walkthrough.
This photo shows the mall corridor split.
Soriana mall entrance.
Famsa is attached to the mall through Soriana.
As you can tell Soriana is huge, it is about as big as a standard Walmart supercenter.
A wide view of the Famsa/Soriana section of the mall.
More Ciudad Juarez Malls and more awesome surprises on the way.
There is a lot to take in with this mall. It's obviously something quite different from what we'd see here in the US. I like the silver/grey tiles on the floor. I've never seen anything quite like that before. It's certainly a much classier look than plain concrete floors which we see here in the US. The storefronts are often not as nice as what we see here, but there are some interesting ones like jewelry store.
ReplyDeleteThe Soriana store is quite interesting. I find it to look nicer in the pictures than a US Wal-Mart. Obviously, it makes the average Kmart look like something third world unfortunately. The canopy in the meat department is interesting and reminds me of Auchan a little bit with their produce department and some other grocery stores from the 1970s-80s. I like it. It certainly looks like a discount store, but it doesn't look bad.
The Coppel feels like a mix between a discount store and a department store. I suppose it fits the role of something like a smaller Sears or something like that. We really don't have mid-tier stores like that here. The electronics department is surprisingly interesting. I immediately noticed the Walkman logo in one of those pictures, but I assume it's for some kind of digital Walkman player or phone. In some ways, the Coppel reminds me of a Service Merchandise as well, but it's obviously not a catalog showroom.
The Cimaco seems like a wonderful place to spend some time. The electronics department feels nice and comfortable and the video games room is a real blast from the past. The feeling you get from all these stores is that they offer a more hands-on atmosphere than American retailers. These stores also seem to do more to make B&M shopping more fun and special. I wonder if that was your experience. I don't know how online shopping is doing in Mexico.
We have Famsa here in Houston. I suppose their stores are rather similar to the Mexican ones. I look forward to seeing more about Sounds. That certainly seems like a store I'd like to shop at.
Oops I accidentally published my next article before finishing it. I will go ahead and finish it and have it back up tomorrow.
DeleteI have more information to add.
It is a retro mall with an updated look. It looks like it may have been added onto or modified to create the food court area.
It is hard to pin down what to compare Coppel to. It is a very cool store though.
The department stores like Cimaco and Fabricas de Francia have more employees than you will see here except in Nordstrom or Dillards. Their employee dress code is also strict. Business suits for Men and Business dress for Women. Some places have uniforms that are similar to older retailers in the US before casual t-shirts became normal.
Online is not as big in Mexico, their shipping system is considered risky. People also like to see items in person down there. There is not an Amazon type of business to force retailers to step up yet.
Famsa is a typical rent to own type of place. Nothing special about it. Sounds was a really cool store that had reasonable prices for everything including video games. For the most part the cost of living is much lower in Mexico except for electronics. I guess they are considered a luxury.