In 1994, as a result of the economic liberalization, the hardware company Mecanelectro went from exclusively selling products from this segment to expand the number of categories to a wider range, thereby changing his name to Home Sentry.
After these years of operation in the country, and having passed the most complex years of the pandemicLucio Bernal, president of the chain, spoke with Valora Analitik about its expansion plan and the main challenges they see today to achieve it. Read More Business News.
“It was a very big transition from Mecanelectro to Home Sentry because we went from a company that handled 2,000 items to one of 18,000 or 20,000 today. In addition, we currently have 12 operating stores in the country.”, explained the businessman.
Five of the company’s current points are located in Bogotáwhile the cities of Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Bucaramanga and Villavicencio have a local.
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The goal set is to be able to open a second store in the capitals of Antioquia and Valle del Caucaand also analyze their entry into intermediate cities such as Santa Marta.
“We are very expectant of the issue of the tax reform that is coming because it is important to understand what the panorama is. This is something that has put investments on stand-by a little bit because we believe that there are things in the reform, as presented, that may affect the performance of the businessBernal pointed out.
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Setting up two or three new stores, which is Home Sentry’s plan, requires significant investment. As the businessman details, if they are carried out in rented premises, the allocated resources would be around US$3 million or US$4 million per store.
“When it is no longer a rented store but, as in several cases, we have to build it because sometimes due to its size it is necessary, there if they are larger investments, US$10 million per point“, said.
The tax on dividends is one of the issues that worries Bernal, since “Between what the company pays and what the partners would have to pay for dividends, they become figures of 65% or 70%, then the utility would go to the payment of taxes”.
In addition to this, he believes that the wealth tax is an issue that also weighs a lot because “to the extent that the partners put money from here and to the extent that we expand, because each time their assets go up”.
The president of the company is emphatic in affirming that although the plans are not cancelled, they are waiting for a clearer scenario in the national tax environment with the new government of Gustavo Petro.
The expectations
In 2021, total Home Sentry sales were around $205 billion. By the end of this year, the objective is to achieve a growth of 11%, which would be about $25,000 million more.
“This year we are not going to have so many problems. In 2021, with some exceptions, we had product delays due to global logistics. This year the supply has been better.
Although the price paid per container did not return to the US$3,000 that was paid before the pandemic, today Home Sentry pays US$6,000, a much lower figure than the US$13,000 that it cost in the peak months of the virus.
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“There is more availability of ships and the factories, especially in China, are fulfilling the deliveries. In addition, one thing that has happened, not only in Colombia but in the United States in stores like Walmart, is that since all the arrival of items stopped so much during the pandemic, most businesses made very large imports and at this time there are many stocks”, he added.
He adds that for this reason there will be no shortages by the end of the year with Christmas products and, in general, with the offer. It must be said that 54% of Home Sentry’s sales are imported products.
Finally, Bernal emphasized that the adaptations of electronic commerce continue, a channel which today represents 8% of the company’s sales.