Mexican entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who recently purchased a 28.5% stake in struggling electronics retailer Circuit City, may increase his stake to become the company’s largest shareholder and is considering the purchase of the company to take it out of bankruptcy, according to a Sentido Comun report.  Salinas Pliego is the majority owner of Mexican appliance retailer Grupo Elecktra, which also owns Mexican bank Banco Azteca.  

Both Grupo Elektra and Banco Azteca are affiliated with Grupo Salinas, which has no equity holdings but operates as a management entity and decision forum for the executives of Grupo Salinas member companies, which also include TV Azteca, Azteca America, Seguros Azteca, Afore Azteca, Iusacell, Unefon, Movil@ccess, and Azteca Internet.

Hipotecaria Su Casita, S.A. de C.V. (HSC) and El Puerto de Liverpool, S.A.B. (EPL) (MXK: LIVEPOLC1) have signed a collaboration agreement under which they will provide loans to consumers to finance home furnishing or appliance purchases at Liverpool and Fabricas de Francia department stores, both of which are operated by EPL, according to a September 4, 2008 report in El Universal. 

The loans will available to consumers who obtain mortgage loans from HSC and do not borrow the maximum authorized amount, as determined by HSC based on consumer credit histories and income levels.  Such consumers will be offered a credit card, branded with both the HSC and EPL logos, that enables them to use the difference between the amount they actually borrow for their mortgage loans and the maximum authorized amount to make home furnishing and applicance purchases at Liverpool and Fabricas de Francia department stores.  Gonzalo Palfox, director of business development at HSC, said in the report that HSC has determined that 30% of Mexican mortgage loan borrowers do not use maximum authorized amount of mortgage financing.

The loans will bear interest at 35% per year, mature in five years, and be prepayable by consumers without penalty, according to a report in El Financiero.  The report also said that the collaboration agreement provides that EPL will place HSC kiosks in its Liverpool and Fabricas de Francia department stores, where consumers may request information about HSC mortgage loans.   

HSC was founded in 1994 as the first specialized mortgage lender in Mexico.  It is structured under Mexican law as a limited purpose finance company (sociedad financiera de objeto limitado - SOFOL), which means, very generally, that it is a specialized financial institution in terms of the types of loans it grants.  SOFOLs became particularly prominent in Mexico’s mortgage sector after December 1994, when the tequila crisis resulted in the collapse of the Mexican banking system and the banks ceased all mortgage lending operations.  SOFOLs, which now offer loans in various sectors of the Mexican finance market (e.g., agriculture, automotive, consumer goods, real estate, etc.), are not authorized to accept deposits.

Best Buy will invest US$400 million in Mexico over the next three years to open its first 20 stores in the country, according to a report in today’s El Financiero. 

Eduardo Garcia Fabregat, the CEO of Best Buy’s Mexico subsidiary, who was quoted in the report, said that Best Buy is targeting the Federal District-Guadalajara corredor and that the company plans to establish stores in Mexico City and its periphery, as well as in the states of Michoacan and Jalisco.

As Mexico Law Blog reported on August 24, 2008, the first Best Buy store in Mexico will be located in the Mundo E shopping center north of Mexico City.  The Mundo E location will be the company’s second largest store, at 5,500 sq. meters and with 2.5 million potential customers.  The company’s largest store is located in Shanghai.

Best Buy will commence its operations in Mexico upon the opening of its first retail store in the country in October 2008, according to a report in El Financiero today.  The store will be located in the Mundo E shopping center in northeast Mexico City. 

The report said that Best Buy also plans to open a store in the Jalisco state after inaugurating the Mexico City location.  Best Buy hopes its Mexican stores will capture a portion of Mexico’s US$14 billion consumer electronics market.

Thomson Premier Retail Networks, Inc. (PRN), a provider of digital media solutions for retail, announced today that is has entered into an agreement with Wal-Mart de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. to operate its in-store media networks at Wal-Mart Supercenters and Bodega Aurrera locations in Mexico. 

According to PRN’s press release:

As part of the agreement, PRN is providing Walmart with an end-to-end solution that includes a digital in-store media strategy, customized programming, advertising sales and operations.

PRN now operates and manages the largest in-store media network in Mexico, which is currently installed in 287 large-format Walmart Supercenter stores. The system features large plasma screens in select areas within the store and 19-inch flat-panel LCD screens at checkout lanes and waiting areas. The Walmart network is driven by two channels with displays and programs specifically designed for each location within the store. The storewide channel, positioned at the traffic hot spots in the main alleys guides shoppers and informs them of products sold in the store, encouraging cross-shopping via short and targeted messages. The waiting area channel enables shoppers to watch entertaining and informative content to reduce perceived wait time while they are in line at checkout and service areas. The waiting area channel broadcasts longer messages to provide more detail to the shopper about products and services.

The in-store media network programming will be custom designed by a dedicated creative PRN team to enhance the shopping experience and to enable Walmart to further brand its in-store environment and communicate with its customers using the power of sight, sound and motion.

PRN is an affiliate of Thomson, S.A. (NYSE ADR: TMS), a French-based provider of video technologies, systems, finished products, and services for the communication, media, and entertainment industries.