Wal-Mart Mexico to continue big-city drive

By Lorraine Orlandi and Gabriela Lopez

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Wal-Mart de Mexico will push ahead with its aggressive big-city expansion even as it moves into more than 30 smaller cities this year, Chief Executive Eduardo Solorzano said in an interview on Monday.

Mexico City and other major cities have been a stronghold of Wal-Mart Mexico, or Walmex (WALMEXV.MX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), as it grabs a growing share of the national retail market with more than 790 stores and restaurants today.

Since last year, Walmex has increasingly targeted cities and towns as small as 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants, but growth in urban centers remains a key part of its expansion strategy, Solorzano said at the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit.

"Internally we don't see it as so critical," Solorzano said of the move into smaller cities and towns. "I know that outside it's causing a lot of excitement. For us it's not so 'wow.'

"We still think our growth will continue in big cities," he said.

Solorzano, 48, who took the helm at Walmex in 2005, said Mexico's top cities -- Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Puebla -- are still wide open for expansion.

"There are enormous growth opportunities," he said. "We don't believe it's over."

Walmex, a unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), has used aggressive expansion and low prices to become Mexico's dominant retailer in the past decade, plowing profits into growth.  Continued...