Almacenes Tía

Tía S.A

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Type	Private company
Industry	Retail
Founded	1940 Bogotá, Colombia
Founder	Federico Deutsch, Karel Steuer
Headquarters	Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay
Area served	Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay
Divisions	Tía S.A (Ecuador) Tía S.A (Colombia) MAGDA Supermercados S.A Ta-Ta S.A Multi Ahorro S.A
Website	Tia.com.ec, Tia.com.co, TaTa.com.uy, Multiahorro.com.uy

Tiendas Industriales Asociadas S.A. Tía S.A. branded as Tía is a South American retailing brand founded in 1940, with separate divisions and brands in Ecuador, Uruguay and Colombia. It is the largest discount retailer in Ecuador and Uruguay operating there nearly 300 locations under the brands Tía, MAGDA, Ta-Ta and MULTI AHORRO. In Colombia Tia S.A (Colombia) operates 19 locations under the Tía brand.

History

Tía S.A finds its roots in the Eastern European supermarket chain Te-Ta founded by Kerel Steuer and Federico Deutsch in the 1920s in Prague, Czechoslovakia, with presence in Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania. The Second World War and its effects forced the founders to emigrate to the Americas leaving everything behind, and beginning operations in Bogotá, Colombia in 1940 under the brand Tía, later expanding to Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador under the Tía brand and other brands. The wave of European migrants in the 1930s brought to Colombia the European families Steuer and Deutsch who created a store where customers could find everything they wanted without having to go to other stores. The idea of creating a store similar to those that existed in Eastern Europe was protocolized on October 14, 1940, opening the first Tía store in South America, on Carrera Séptima, between calles 17 and 18, in the heart of Colombia, Bogotá.

The people of Bogotá no longer needed to make their purchases in five or six different shops, or ask for price discounts, in Tía they found everything under one roof and at fixed prices; also the lowest in the city. At the time there were stores specializing in items, but there was no concept of supermarket which was introduced by Tía.

The South American store industry has been a support for the development of this business organization, which besides the supermarket segment, allowed small manufacturing operations to arise over time and become important manufacturing companies in Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, and Uruguay. Tía was one of the first stores to enter the market of private labels. This store was a pioneer in many aspects, which have served as a basis for national and international chains to modernize their business model.

Currently, Tia SA is present in Ecuador, Uruguay and Colombia. The Argentinean division with its 61 stores was sold to French supermarket chain Carrefour in 1999 for USD 630 millions and was rebranded first as Norte, and then as Carrefour. And the Peruvian division was sold after an unsuccessful evolution in the Peruvian market. Most of the shares of Tía S.A belong to the Colombian-born naturalized Argentine businessman and politician Francisco de Narváez and his family, Gustavo Andrés Deutsch, and financial institutions.

Formats

Tía S.A stores are divided into the following forms and brands of supermarkets:

• Tía

Tia supermarkets are located in cities with populations over 25,000 inhabitants.

• Super Tía

Super Tía are hypermarkets formats and are located in cities with populations over 125,000 inhabitants.

• Plaza Tía

Plaza Tía are commercial centers with one main Tía supermarket and a variety of complementary stores.

• Tía Express

Tía Express is a small supermarket Format

• MULTIAHORRO

MULTIAHORRO is a neighborhood supermarket format located in Barrios.

• MAGDA Supermercados

MAGDA Supermercados is an Ecuadorian supermarket chain bough in 2012 by Tia S.A

• TA-TA

In Uruguay, the Tía division has a different name, Ta-Ta.

• MULTI AHORRO

MULTI AHORRO is a Uruguayan supermarket chain bough in 2012 by Tia S.A's Uruguayan branch Ta-Ta S.A

• Tia.com.ec

Tía S.A is addressing the Ecuadorian online market through its online store Tia.com.ec.

• MultiAhorro.com.uy

Ta-Ta S.A is addressing the Uruguayan online market through its subsidiary Multi Ahorro and its online store MultiAhorro.com.uy.

Tía Colombia

The first store was opened in the city of Bogotá on October 14, 1940, in Seventh avenue, between 17 and 18 streets. The business model was a new concept thereby instituting a new business model unknown at the time. That day Tía S.A opened the first department store that forever transformed the retail industry in Colombia.

Tía Colombia currently has supermarkets in Bogotá, Medellín, Bucaramanga, Barranquilla, Cúcuta, Sogamoso, Ibagué, Facatativá, Palmira, and Tunja.

Tía Argentina

The first store was opened in the city of Buenos Aires in 1946 in Suipacha 147, downtown. The business concept was innovative. The originality of the model was to put round shelves like islands for each department. Until then, the retail trade in Argentina was the store, library...

The sale of the Argentine division

In 1999, Exxel, a buyout fund backed by American investors, and Promodes, France's second-largest retail chain at the time before merging with Carrefour, bought Tia's Argentine division and its 61 stores for $630 million. Carrefour spent another $600 million over three years to add stores.

The reopening of the Argentine division

Carlos de Narvaez, and his brother, the Colombian-born naturalized Argentine businessman and politician Francisco de Narváez, two of the grandsons of one of the founders and partial owners of Tia S.A, want to reopen Tía S.A in Argentina. In mid-2009, they bought back the Argentine brand from Carrefour and promise to implant back the supermarket chain Argentine division starting in Buenos Aires.

Tía Uruguay (Ta-Ta)

On June 13, 1956, at the corner of July 18 and Carlos Roxlo, Tía's Uruguayan subsidiary, Ta-Ta SA, opened the first department store in Uruguay thus giving the kickoff to the modernization of the retail store further developing trade and the supermarket industry in Uruguay.

In 2012 Ta-Ta S.A bought the Uruguayan supermarket and electronic department store chain "Multi Ahorro".

Currently Ta-Ta S.A employs more than 6000 employees, and has hypermarkets located in the 19 departments of the country. As of March 2012, Ta-Ta S.A is the biggest retailer in Uruguay with over 30% market share.

Tía Ecuador

The first store in Ecuador opened in the city of Guayaquil on November 29, 1960 in the downtown area of this city in 217 and Luque Chimborazo. As of August 2013, Tia S.A is the biggest retailer in Ecuador.

External links

• Tia Ecuador
• Multi Ahorro Uruguay
• Ta-Ta Uruguay
• Tia Colombia