Economics
Pao de Acucar Turns to Malls for Grocery Boost: Corporate Brazil
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After a surge in Brazilian real estate prices, Cia. Brasileira de Distribuicao Grupo Pao de Acucar is carving a niche as a landlord. The nation’s biggest food retailer is investing $500 million to build mini malls around its supermarkets.
The gambit, borrowed from French parent Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA, is intended to help drive traffic to Pao de Acucar’s grocery operations. The lure for shoppers: offerings such as gyms and baby-goods stores in settings smaller and more intimate than typical malls and safer than outside streets.