2023-08-01 23:49:30
The clothing firm Le Utthe acquired the Paseo Diagonal in Mar del Plata, while Starbucks is preparing to open a store in the city. In the north, on Avenida Constitución, they are beginning to build a new commercial promenade.
By Marcelo Pasetti
Twitter: @marcelopasetti
The Paseo Diagonal was sold. This emblematic shopping center in Mar del Plata located diagonally Pueyrredon 3000, in the heart of the city, changes owners. The Paseo, whose opening took place in January 1999 (this coming season will be the 25th anniversary of its opening) will completely change its appearance. As this section learned, it was acquired by the firm Le Utthe, the Argentine brand that seeks to be the local H&M and that this year invested 10 million dollars in a new factory. The idea is to set up a giant sales room on a large part of the ground floor of the current Paseo Diagonal. The new owners will take over the property in October to begin the remodeling tasks, with the aim of opening the doors before the season.
“In the first stage, the entire plant will be occupied except for the premises that today have McDonald’s and the Parliamo pizzeria. The theaters will continue. They are not touched”, assured an architect linked to the new owners. As for Le Utthe, it was born four decades ago as a family SME and today it has 57 of its own stores, a presence in 21 provinces and a state-of-the-art plant in Bragado, where they produce their own cotton, and megastores of more than 2,000 square meters. . In addition to the one in Mar del Plata -it will be one of the largest in the country- they plan to open four more new establishments. The company, founded in 1982 by Carlos Bielsa – it is reviewed in an article opportunely published by El Cronista – has its heart in Bragado, and although they initially arrived in the capital, the expansion only took place in 2007.
Ignacio Gurrieri, commercial manager, assured in that interview with El Cronista that “we have a presence in the main cities of the country, with a format of large stores. The largest market -he added- is the province of Buenos Aires, where we have a total of 18 stores”. In 2022, the brand produced 7 million garments and for this year, the goal is to reach 9 million with the six segments and the special lines that are launched each season. With close to a thousand employees, the company is inspired by international fashion trends and redefines them, adapting them to the needs and tastes of the local consumer. Recently, it began with the processes of recycling and reusing cotton. At the new 4,600 square meter plant, they are turning textile waste into new recycled cotton fiber. Two thousand kilos of scraps are generated per day, resulting in the assembly of 20,000 garments. “Today’s world is in the process of changing towards more transparent, sustainable and responsible companies and Le Utthe is a pioneer in this regard”, they asserted from the company that is now betting big on Mar del Plata.
Although there are conversations, negotiations and visits from foreign executives (Mexican and Chilean) that have intensified in recent days, all within a marked secrecy, this section is in a position to anticipate that the arrival of the Starbucks coffee shop chain in Silver Sea. The primary idea was to open three stores (in the center, Constitución avenue and in the Alem area), but all eyes now seem to point to the corner of Independencia and Alvarado, where Mar del Plata will be able to count, following several years of coming and turns, with the first Starbucks location, without ruling out that a new Burger King space will also open there.
“There have been many meetings these days here and in Buenos Aires, and visits from businessmen from the Mexican group Alsea, who have been investing heavily in Argentina, with a plan to open 40 new stores by 2027 with the creation of 1,250 new jobs for both Burger King and Starbucks, with an investment of more than 30 million dollars. And among the chosen cities is Mar del Plata”, a very high local business source acknowledged before this medium. “We are a company that supplies us 95% with local inputs, generating employment for young people, with 18 and 19-year-old boys who start their careers with us and many of them complete their entire careers,” the director of Alsea acknowledged weeks ago. by Cono Sur, Santiago Farinati, when announcing the opening of new offices in Escobar. They will soon arrive in Mar del Plata. “There are a couple more surprises that are looking to come. They are looking for a place to go down but they need very large dimensions, ”added the source.
In Argentina, it should be noted, Alsea began its operations in 2006, with 27 stores and one brand. Today it has 247 units and two brands: Burger King (115 stores) and Starbucks (132 stores), with a presence in 10 provinces and in the City of Buenos Aires, generating more than 6,300 direct jobs. Between 2006 and last year, Alsea had invested in the country more than 250 million dollars. The company operates in more than 4,400 stores in 12 countries that include Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Spain and France, among others, with globally recognized brands, including Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks, Burger King, or TGI. Friday, which generate more than 73,000 jobs globally. It was also determined that the sales of Alsea South America represented 17.7% of the company’s consolidated sales in the first quarter of this year and are made up of operations in Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Uruguay. Regarding Argentina, from the company they recognized that “today we are between 90 and 95% of the volume of the pre-pandemic, both in Starbucks and Burger King. Consumption levels are maintained -they added- as a result of the innovative offer of our brands and the in-store experiences that our teams provide every day’”.
In another aspect, Avenida Constitución does not stop growing. The former “Noise Avenue” today has become a new commercial pole with the installation of recognized firms, supermarkets, banks and service entities, and it does not stop growing. After the opening of the new and model branch of Banco Provincia on Constitución Avenue at 5800, the large premises that it occupied on the corner of Constitución and Ingenieros, which are already for rent with several firms interested in it, became free following the move. And just one block from there, a more than spacious store was put up for sale, on the corner of Constitución and Roldán, where the unisex clothing firm Express was originally going to set up. Next to said store, work has already begun for the construction of a new commercial promenade, with five stores with a frontage of 10 meters each that cover a wide strip of Constitución (52 meters) between Roldán and Artigas. This is the Dumbledore Shopping Mall.
“Considering precisely that the work is located on Avenida Constitución and it is the access road to the city, we thought of making this large-scale complex so that it can be seen by vehicle. We prioritize the retreat from the front, which is ceded to the city as a Garden. It allows us to generate a greater visual and perspective of the premises and also generate a walk that does not exist on that block today”, explained the architect Laura Napp, in charge of the project. The professional also announced that each store will also have its own garden, in the background, to achieve greater integration with the neighborhood. In short, these are double-height commercial premises, with timeless architecture, where what is sold or exhibited is promoted. “The idea is that they are magnificent in size and that they can be seen when driving by. Each one has 10 meters in front, which helps them to be used by big brands”, concluded the architect Napp. To all this, closer to the coast, at the corner of Constitución and Patagones, the construction of what will be the new branch of Banco Francés, with another model building, is advancing at a very good pace.
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