Now, three years after leaving Argentina and through a communications agency, the Chilean chain Falabella try to “convince” the Argentine consumers that they have the possibility of traveling to Chile during the next extra long holiday to stop by their stores in the neighboring country. Seek to attract them with price offers so they can take advantage of the exchange rate and variety of products.
That is, they leave their money in a chain that decided to leave local consumers without its products, with offers in different product categories to welcome hundreds of local customers into its stores.
The newsletter distributed by order of the Chilean headquarters in the country assures that “A break is coming to work life, with a week that includes three holidays: June 17, 20 and 21. “A perfect opportunity to cross the mountain range and take advantage of the prices and offers offered by Chilean stores.”
Although in its first paragraphs it tries to “disguise” its message, it later clarifies that one of those stores is Falabella itself, ensuring that Last May “it tripled its sales from foreigners if we compare it with the same period of the previous year.”
For this opportunity, the company clarifies that it accepts payments in dollars at its checkouts and that it was prepared to offer “attractive prices in different categories, including: Fashion, Beauty, Technology, Decoration.”
And in a colloquial way he tries to communicate to Argentine consumers who may travel to the neighboring country to take a few days of rest that “you know, if you decide to take advantage of this holiday and cross the mountain range, here we leave you some products and offers so you can plan your next purchases “.
The departure of the chain from the local market left “a stream” of fired employees who had to claim for their salaries
Falabella’s proposals to attract Argentines: what offer does it have
In that sense, it divides its offers according to categories, as in the case of what it calls “cutting-edge technology” in which it proposes the purchase of 55-inch televisions from recognized brands such as Samsung, LG and Hisense “which have been the most requested by Argentines” with prices that vary between $147,394 and $3,439,428 approximately.
In the field of telephony, the most popular models include the Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 256GB, Motorola Edge 40 Neo, Samsung A15 5G 128GB and the iPhone 13 128GB, with prices from $98,259 to $1,474,030.
In the case of computing, notebooks from Lenovo, Asus and HP stand out as “among the favorites”, with values from $343,933 and $1,965,377, including the most popular ones such as the Lenovo Gamer 4060, Asus Vivobook Go 14 and traditional HP R5.
Refrigerators, washing machines and clothes: the variety that Falabella offers
Likewise, the Chilean chain’s statement points out that appliances and home products “also play an important role in Falabella’s offering, allowing buyers who will venture out these holidays to renew and improve their spaces with the best brands.” and competitive prices”.
In the case of sports fashion and sneakers, they also stand out among the preferences of Argentines, with brands such as Diadora, Adidas, Nike and Puma leading sales.
“If you are looking for sneakers you can find running, soccer, tennis, and outdoor models with prices starting at $29,470,” they dare to tell the supposed Argentine buyers.
Falabella seeks to attract Argentine buyers, who are looking for a good price and variety of products
Likewise, the perfumery section, “which includes exclusive brands, has been highly requested by those looking for high-quality products,” adds the paper that highlights labels such as MAC Cosmetics, Benefit, Lancome, Carolina Herrera, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Paco Rabanne “and much more.”
In addition, it claims to offer the latest launches such as, for example, Ralph Lauren’s new men’s fragrance, Polo 67.
Falabella’s “escape” from Argentina
In June 2021, three years ago, the owners of Falabella They decided that Argentina was no longer an attractive market for their business model, which evidenced the limited knowledge of the local market of the Chilean executives who succeeded each other in operational control of the department store chain in the neighboring country.
The company had landed in Argentina in 1993 when it opened its first location in Mendoza, the province closest to its headquarters, and then expanded throughout the interior until landing in Buenos Aires.
And although in those 25 years of permanence until 2021, it was able to go through several local economic crises until 2001, all that experience and permanence were not enough to maintain its structure, its premises and, especially the hundred employees who stayed. without work when Chile defined the domestic market as “unattractive” due to its failure in sales and the negative results accumulated by its Argentine subsidiary.
Added to this was that, The government of Alberto Fernández began to take measures to stop imports due to the lack of foreign currency, which had an impact on its commercial model, largely based on the sale of items that came from other countries without giving rise to national production.
The Chilean chain left the country three years ago, affected by the ineffectiveness of its executives and the obstacles to importing from the Kirchner government.
Before undertaking the official withdrawal, the owners of Falabella They tried for eight months to sell their assets in the country that no one wanted anymore due to its devaluation and lack of stock, which led to a terminal decision to “break camp” without measuring the social consequences that this measure implied, especially for its thousands of employees who were laid off or adopted by accept voluntary withdrawals.
At first, the chain evaluated the entry of a strategic partner for its local operation but it was not successful and in a brief statement, at that time it revealed that “in the context of the plan that Falabella is carrying out to make its operation sustainable In Argentina, the company will close the department stores located in Rosario, the Unicenter shopping center and in the pedestrian Florida in the City of Buenos Aires.
They were the last three that were operational and the only thing left was the permanence of its eCommerce portal, which later also closed, leaving only the presence of its Sodimac stores and its CMR card, which changed owners.
“We say goodbye thanking all our clients, suppliers, collaborators“, the chain reported almost in an ironic and derogatory way when saying goodbye to Argentina, but not before “finishing off” all the merchandise it still had in stock.
“As always, Falabella continues its commitment to each of its customers to maximize the shopping experience. This is why we continue working to provide them with support in everything they need,” the statement concluded, with words that were incomprehensible to a brand that had decided to turn its back on the Argentine market with a slow closing schedule of its stores that began with those in Mendoza, Córdoba and San Juan.
They were followed by those located on Florida Street (in establishment 202 of the Buenos Aires pedestrian street), the Unicenter shopping center and Rosario (Santa Fe), with its consequent liquidation.
