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Supermaxi-La Favorita still has a lot of market to cover in Ecuador before looking outside.
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Sidney Wright, son of an Irish admirai, arrived in Ecuador nearly eight decades ago. He never imagined that his small grocery store, opened in 1934, would become a local leader in the service industry. Grupo Supermaxi-La Favorita now operates a chain of 80 super- and megamarkets nationwide, with specialty stores in home goods, toys, clothing, even real estate.
Wright also didn't plan to turn his business into the one with the highest market cap in Ecuador, nor the one with the highest liquidity, or one of the heavyweights in the Ecuindex index in Quito's Stock Exchange. In 2006, according to data from the exchange, from a total of more than 220 million circulating shares in the service industry, 84% belonged to La Favorita. Its capitalization rose to US$1.33 billion last year, compared to $224 million in 2001.
With revenues totaling $857 million in 2006, 22% higher than the previous year's $703 million, Supermaxi-La Favorita projects to increase that amount by no less...