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Waldo's (officially Waldo's Dólar Mart de México S. de R.L. de C.V., Waldo's L.L.C.) is a privately held company operating three chains of retail stores. The namesake chain Waldo's consists of more than 800 discount stores across Mexico as of May 2023, with a merchandise selection similar to that of a dollar store in the United States, although without focusing on a specific single price point (or multiple thereof). Most products are priced between 9.99 and 29.99 pesos,^[1] about US$0.60 to US$1.75 as of December 2023.^[2]

Other chains are Eleczión for clothing with 200 stores (Dec. 2023),^[3] and Waldo's Motos carrying motorcycles.

Until 2023 the company was based in Tijuana, but in May of that year it moved its headquarters to Mexico City.^[4]

History

In 1999, Waldo's opened four stores in Tijuana, a large city along the border on the U.S. border next to San Diego, using the U.S. dollar store model.^[5]

From 4 stores in Baja California by 2005, it had grown to 147 stores in 21 of the 31 Mexican states. In 2022, Waldo's opened its 500th store in Mexico.

In May 2023, the company announced that:^[1]

it had grown by 45% in the three years up until then
its goal of growing from 800 to 1000 stores "soon" with an investment of 2 billion pesos (about US$115 million)
its opinion that the Mexican market could eventually support up to 5000 Waldo's stores

Product categories

Products carried are similar to dollar stores in the U.S.:^[6]

Homeware for kitchen, bathroom, bedroom
Home decor, home organization, furniture, bed and bath linens
Groceries, everyday dry goods incl. personal care products
Cleaning supplies, pet supplies
Hardware and tools, auto supplies, camping supplies
Suitcases and travel bags
Small electronics, televisions, small appliances
Major appliances (small selection)
Apparel, wearing accessories, footwear, jewelry, watches, sunglasses
Toys, bicycles, games, party supplies

Since 2022, Waldo's also has separate stores branded Waldo's Motos selling motorcycles, thus competing with top retailer Elektra.^[7]^[8]

E-commerce

Waldo's acknowledged in a 2023 interview that its entry into e-commerce in late 2020 was "very late". It offers online sales via its website waldos.com.mx and also has a mobile app. As of 2023, the company states that it has about 12,000 e-commerce transactions a month, increasing to about 20,000 a month nearer the year-end holidays, and that the average e-commerce transaction is about 6 times larger than in-store transactions. Its e-commerce product range is wider than in stores, with a much wider selection of products especially in certain categories such as small and large appliances, travel-related products, homewares, home decor and special offers.^[9]

Financial services

Waldo's offers both a credit card, as well as international money transfers to Mexico with cash pickup at Waldo's stores,^[10] and runs the foundation Corazones con Vizión.

Facilities

Waldo's has distribution centers in Lerma, Guadalajara, and Tijuana. The retailer had about 9,000 direct employees as of May 2023.^[11]

Key people

Ernesto Llanos, Commercial Director^[11]
Juan Manuel Altamirano, Director of Growth^[11]
Luis Massieu, Director of Finance^[11]

Geographic distribution

According to the Waldo's website in December 2023, stores are distributed as follows across the 32 federal entities (31 states plus Mexico City):

State/Federal Entity	Eleczion stores	Waldos stores	Grand Total
Baja California	7	59	66
Tamaulipas	9	42	51
Coahuila	11	39	50
Nuevo Leon	5	42	47
Chihuahua	12	34	46
Jalisco	11	33	44
Veracruz	18	22	40
Sonora	11	29	40
Mexico	7	27	34
Guanajuato	9	23	32
Sinaloa	8	20	28
Michoacan	12	16	28
Baja California Sur	5	20	25
Quintana Roo	6	16	22
Tabasco	10	11	21
Ciudad De Mexico		21	21
Chiapas	14	4	18
Yucatan	5	9	14
Puebla	9	5	14
Guerrero	4	10	14
Durango		13	13
San Luis Potosi	6	5	11
Morelos	2	8	10
Zacatecas	2	7	9
Hidalgo	3	6	9
Colima		8	8
Queretaro	1	6	7
Oaxaca	4	3	7
Aguascalientes	2	5	7
Nayarit	3	3	6
Campeche	3	2	5
Tlaxcala	1	1	2
Grand Total	200	549	749

References

^ ^a ^b Content, Branded (12 May 2023). "Waldo's anuncia plan de expansión acelerada para los próximos años" [Waldo's announces accelerated expansion plan for the upcoming few years]. Expansión (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "Sucursales" [Branches]. Waldo's (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ listed on their website in December 2023
^ "Waldo's Dólar Mart de México, S. de R.L. de C.V." Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "Waldo's espera llegar a las mil tienes con su plan de expansión" [Waldo's hopes to grow to 1000 stores with its expansion plan]. sdpnoticias. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "(Homepage)". Waldo's (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "Elektra tiene nuevo competidor: Waldo's abre tiendas para vender motos" [Elektra has a new competitor: Waldo's opens shops selling motorcycles]. Telediario México (in Mexican Spanish). 25 May 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ Valladolid, Mónica (26 May 2023). "Tiendas de motos, la nueva apuesta de Waldo's" [Motorcycle shops, the new bet from Waldo's]. Forbes México (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "Se lanza Waldo's con todo por el mercado de las ventas en línea en México" [Waldo's launches online sales in full force]. Vanguardia (in Spanish). 19 November 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
^ "Remesas" [International money transfers]. Waldo's (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hernández López, Verónica (10 May 2023). "Expansión nacional de Waldo's con su "Plan Mil" tiendas" [Waldo's nationwide expansion with its "Plan One Thousand" stores]. Retailers - Negocios e innovación tecnológica (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 December 2023.