More than two years after the pandemic, retailers have resumed investments in opening stores and buying land at the same time as they have been increasing disbursements in the digital arm - a business that has sustained part of the sector's results. It increases the need for chains to boost their spending in the year from new pressures on the costs of building the points. There was an increase of up to 50% in the value of a new store this year, compared to 2020 - in an environment of more expensive resources on the market.

The research considered the values reported by the chains in the quarterly balance sheets. A survey carried out by Valor shows that the investments of 15 publicly traded retailers - considering those with available data between 2019 and 2022 reached R$ 1.9 billion from January to March this year, 35% higher than that demonstrated at the beginning of 2019, a year before the health crisis when the sum reached R$ 1.4 billion. When considering the decade's annual expansion rate, the projection was that this number would be reached a year ago, but the pandemic froze investments. This delay increases the need to accelerate projects, despite the uncertain consumption environment and high-interest rates making capital more expensive.
Source: Valor Econômico