Expect more stores here from Mexico’s Grupo Famsa SA de CV come fall.
The Monterrey-based company, which runs the Famsa furniture, electronics and appliances chain in Mexico and the U.S., is adding nine stores after buying Corona-based La Canasta Furnishings Inc. earlier this year.
The company bought La Canasta in April for $37 million.
Famsa plans to convert La Canasta’s nine stores in Orange and Los Angeles counties, the Inland Empire and three stores in Texas to its name by October.
The La Canasta brand, familiar to Hispanics across the county, is fading out, said Federico Uribe, director of marketing for Famsa, which has its U.S. headquarters in Santa Fe Springs.
Across the Southland, Famsa banners are being tacked up over La Canasta signs. The stores are being painted and decorated in Famsa style in the next month.
La Canasta’s former Corona headquarters has been converted to a 165,000-square-foot warehouse.
The company’s 440 or so employees now work for Famsa, which generated $170 million from its 25 U.S. stores and $1.2 billion companywide last year.
The acquisition marks an aggressive growth bid by Famsa, which started opening U.S. stores in 2001 to serve the growing number of Mexicans and other Hispanics here.
In OC, Hispanics make up 33% of the population, with Mexicans making up the vast majority of those.
Famsa opened its first and only OC store in Santa Ana in 2001. The store appeals to immigrants looking to buy stuff for themselves or to have purchases shipped to relatives in Mexico and Central America. It also offers money transfer services.
Like other Mexican companies that have come here, Famsa found itself up against homegrown competition, in this case La Canasta, which opened its first store in Santa Ana in 1977.
The company generated more than $55 million in yearly sales before Famsa bought it.
“La Canasta has historically been a central part of the Hispanic community in Southern California, so the acquisition will bring added value to Famsa and will help it grow its presence in America,” said Uribe, who worked as vice president of sales and marketing for La Canasta before it was acquired.
Like Famsa, La Canasta carried major furniture, electronic and appliance brands such as Sony and General Electric.
Hispanic shoppers also could ship products to relatives and friends in Mexico.
The company’s stores, which can run as big as 28,000 square feet, now will have an expanded electronics section and an area where customers can see and feel products that they can send to other Famsa stores or homes in Mexico, Guatemala or El Salvador, he said.
Famsa is also trying to tap into other demographics, according to Uribe. The company plans to push out Spanish and English advertisements through direct mail, print media and television and radio commercials, Uribe said.
“Famsa’s stores are bilingual and they’re clean and modern. They can easily appeal to any shopper, regardless of cultural background,” Uribe said.
The company still has plenty of competition, including from Sears, Wal-Mart and other mainstream retailers. It’s closest competition likely are stores of Los Angeles-based La Curacao, which is opening an Anaheim location a block from one of Famsa’s acquired La Canasta stores.
La Curacao opened its first OC store in Fountain Valley last year.
Arturo Prestamo, director of investor relations for Grupo Famsa, said the company plans to open more stores throughout the U.S. in the next few years. The company is open to looking at future acquisitions, he said.
Famsa, which now owns about 350 stores in Mexico and about 40 stores in California, Texas, Nevada and Phoenix, is determined to broaden its appeal, Uribe said.
