What: Paris, the department store of the Chilean conglomerate Cencosud, wanted to compete with Falabella and Ripley and was never able to achieve the desired success. More than two years have passed since Paris decided to close its 11 stores in Peru.

Why it is important: The absence of e-commerce during the pandemic, the lack of differentiation, and the weakness of its sales and brand strategy were what caused the operation in Peru to be discontinued. Besides, Paris should have opened stores first in Lima, where the bulk of consumption is concentrated, and not start with the provinces

The company 's initial argument for leaving the Peruvian market is that it did not obtain the results or the participation it expected. This can be easily corroborated with figures published by market research company Euromonitor mentions that, at the end of 2019, the retailer's participation amounted to only 8.3%, while Falabella had 46.5%, Ripley with 27.6% and Oeschle with 11%.

Another mistake is that Cencosud privileged the growth of its supermarket division in Peru, through its Wong and Metro brands. Also, despite the fact that in Chile Cencosud has a battery of strong brands for Paris, it did not bring them here. The own brands that they had failed to penetrate and those that added did not give them the necessary strength.

Why did Paris close in Peru?