Category: News

Industry Leader Almeida Junior Increases Investments in the State

The Group bets on innovation and expects an expansion of all its shopping centers in Santa Catarina

 

In modern life’s quick pace, time, which is increasingly scarce, became one of the most important and sought resources in our daily lives. Time to exercise, to take care of our health, to spend time with our family and to have more quality of life.

Much more than a purchase and consumption destination, today’s shopping is seen by users as a leisure option that provides these benefits, by gathering varied options safely, in one place: food, movie theaters, children’s play areas, exhibitions, artistic attractions, among other activities.

Even after the challenging year the companies faced with the pandemic onset, in 2020 the segment has already picked up on growth and expects to open 13 new developments in the county this year alone, as suggests the data from Abrasce (Brazilian Shopping Centers Association). The number of openings, if consolidated, will be 85% higher than the one registered last year and greater than the 11 new units in 2019.

Established in 1980, in Blumenau, by the businessman and CEO of the company, Jaimes Almeida Junior, the Almeida Junior group is an example of this industry’s boost and today it is the largest shopping centers company in Southern Brazil, with a 71% market share in Santa Catarina.

Since 2007, according to the CEO, the company has focused its investments in the State, opening five of its six malls throughout the past 14 years. It has also expanded the Balneário Shopping during this period.

 “The group has always been ahead of the main innovations in the shopping centers market, of architectonic concepts against the deployed technologies. The best example is AJPlace, our pioneering marketplace that we have launched last year and that has come to consolidate Almeida Junior’s shopping centers digitalization”, Almeida Junior highlights.

The E-commerce Bet

Since last year, AJPlace continues to grow and offers more and more amenities to its customers, counting with over 150,000 products from 550 national and foreign brands. In addition to the broad range and curatorship of products, AJPlace has recently launched a new amenity to its customers: 2-hour delivery in a 20km radius from group Almeida Junior’s shopping centers. With a robust schedule for the upcoming months, the group’s marketplace is expected to bring more surprises.

“By gathering 71% share of the State’s shopping centers, we get, through the sales stream of our units, a better understanding on Santa Catarina consumers’ behavior and we can better service them”, Jaimes Almeida Junior highlights.

The Brazilian e-commerce has increased 73.88% last year alone, according to the MCC-ENET index developed by the Brazilian Chamber of Digital Economy Metrics Committee (camara-e.net) in partnership with Neotrust | Purchase & Trust Movement.

Jobs and Income Creation

The group’s investments also pump up the State’s economy. According to the company’s CEO, due to its hegemony in Santa Catarina, Almeida Junior naturally became the entrance door for big national and international brands and put the State in these companies’ sights. “This translates into a virtuous economic cycle, creating sales, jobs and income for state residents”, he points out.

In the Florianópolis Metropolitan region, the group opened the Continente Shopping eight years ago, the biggest one in the State.  “We brought to Continente’s consumers and also to the island’s residents the best in gastronomy, entertainment and major and satellite brands that changed the lives of many consumers”, Almeida Junior says.

On-site and On-line Integration

Regarding the whole experience gained throughout the years in this industry, Jaimes Almeida Junior assesses that, for the future, the company brings past lessons and legacy, aware that consumers change their habits quickly. “Our goal is to follow this up swiftly. Almeida Junior has always been one step ahead when it comes to trends. We closely follow major world markets and we always intend to surprise our consumers with positive and lasting experiences in our malls”, he evaluates.

For the next seven years, Almeida Junior intends to expand all of the network’s malls starting on 2022, with the expansion of Balneário Shopping. The aim is to expand all developments, one per year, starting on 2023.

 

Consumer Industry Trends

For Almeida Junior’s group CEO, consumption is crucial and the company intends to always be ahead of consumer habits and technology models to continuously support consumers in a quick and efficient manner.

He assesses that virtual tools arrived to support and drive the shopping center commerce and industry. “The increasing stream of people and consumers that go to shopping centers and physical stores will never end. Consumers are humans, they always crave for socializing, trying new clothes, getting in touch, gathering with friends, talking walks with their families and enjoying gastronomy and entertainment experiences within shopping centers. What is happening right now is technology brings more comfort, access and solutions to consumers’ wishes. Online depends on the off-line”, Almeida Junior ends.

About Almeida Junior

With six shopping centers in Santa Catarina that add up to 223,000 m2 and GLA (Gross Leasable Area) and 1,579 stores, the company is present in the State’s most economically important regions, which is Brazil’s sixth largest economy and has the largest per capita consumption in the country.

The company opened its first shopping center in 1993, in Blumenau, the Newmark Shopping. In 2008, Almeida Junior decided to invest solely in Santa Catarina to became the State’s leader company and, in three years, it has opened three other malls: Garten Shopping (2010), Norte Shopping (2011), and Continente Shopping (2012).

Almeida Junior is a family company whose CEO is its founder since the beginning.

Group Malls and Opening Years

 

Neumarkt Shopping (Blumenau) – 1993

Balneário Shopping (Balneário Camboriú) – 2007

Garten Shopping (Joinville) – 2010

Norte Shopping (Blumenau) – 2011

Continente Shopping (Florianópolis Metropolitan region) – 2012

Expansão do Balneário Shopping – 2015

Nações Shopping (Criciúma) – 2016

 

A trend in the market, electric vehicles are increasingly gaining the appreciation of Brazilians, since they are a way of not using polluting fuels, they become noiseless, and when they are in the intense traffic of the cities, they are more efficient and economical. The expectation of the Brazilian Association of the Electric Vehicle (ABVE) is that in 2021 about 28,000 electrified cars will be circulating on the streets. In this sense, it becomes necessary to increase the Brazilian electric corridor. In Santa Catarina, the Almeida Junior Group, in partnership with Porsche Brazil, has installed electric vehicle recharging stations in its six malls to increase the state’s electric corridor.

Visitors can recharge their cars quietly and for free, while they enjoy the services offered by the group’s malls, such as the food hall, movie theaters, and stores. The stations are compatible with all models of electric cars or plug-in hybrids that have a Type 2 charging standard. Easy to handle, the equipment has a power of 11kW and safety devices, according to international standards. The time for complete recharging depends on the model of each vehicle. For example, Porsche’s plug-in hybrid models (Panamera E-Hybrid and Cayenne E-Hybrid) take between 2 hours and 40 minutes to 4 hours and 50 minutes to charge the battery, depending on each configuration.

The first mall of the group to receive the charging station was Garten Shopping (Joinville), followed by the others: Balneário Shopping (Balneário Camboriú), Norte Shopping and Neumarkt Shopping (Blumenau), Nações Shopping (Criciúma) and Continente Shopping (Grande Florianópolis).

“Entrepreneurs Meeting – It’s Time to Accelerate” gathered leaders and authorities, this Tuesday (22), at Garten Shopping, to intensify the recovery of the economy and the development of the region. Indicators show that the recovery of the economy is already happening all over Brazil and, in Santa Catarina, the result of the GDP for the 1st half of 2021 exceeded expectations, making the market more optimistic about the future. “The increase in the index by 2.9% indicates that we are on the right path to the new economy, what we need now is to accelerate this recovery,” said the president of LIDE SC, Delton Batista.

Aiming to expand the debate and strategies for economic growth in Joinville and the Northern region of the state, Almeida Junior founder and CEO, Jaimes Almeida Junior, president of the Neogrid Board of Directors, Miguel Abuhab, businessman Olavo Vidal and Joinville mayor, Adriano Silva, presented, during the meeting, plans and actions to boost the economy of the entire region. For Garten’s superintendent, Edigar Zimmermann, “It was very gratifying to open the doors of the largest shopping mall in the North of SC to discuss and exchange ideas about the future of the city.

According to Jaimes, the Almeida Junior group was booming since 2013 and well prepared when the pandemic arrived. “In 2015, we launched the development, technology and innovation center called AJ Labs, and this was the first step towards implementing the technology in our team’s mindset. In 2020, we saw Covid-19 as an opportunity to anticipate the Marketplace project, thus forming a physical and digital ecosystem. From May 2019 to May 2020, the company had sales decrease by 38%, however, from this period to May 2021, the increase reached 83%. The recovery is incredible and the way out was exactly the digital transformation”, concludes the entrepreneur.

On the occasion, Jaimes Almeida Júnior was honored and received the Leaders 2020 Award, elected by a multidisciplinary curatorship, which gathers leaders and entities from all over the country to indicate the outstanding entrepreneur of the year in Santa Catarina.

Miguel Abuhab, founder of DATASUL and NeoGrid, Supply Chain Management company, with offices in the United States and Europe, also corroborates that technology is the key to recovery, but it only makes sense when the business rules change. “It is necessary to improve and facilitate internal and indispensable processes such as management and sales, besides, externally, providing a new customer experience,” says he, who participated in the implementation of CONSUL S.A in Joinville and acts strongly in social responsibility and education projects.

For the entrepreneur and physicist Olavo Vidal, with more than 30 years of experience in the industry and currently owns Grano and Giraffas franchises, the pandemic brought new perspectives to the state’s economy. “We had to further improve the digital process to expand sales in the apps, for faster deliveries and more customer experience. We rethought goals, restructured teams, and, with technology, improved sales and the company’s status in relation to our public,” he says.

The mayor of Joinville, Adriano Silva, explained how he has been approaching the municipal administration and entrepreneurs to encourage the stability and growth of the market in the region. “Government and leadership need to be together. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have followed the premise of maintaining a balance between economy and care for severe cases. The alignment between city hall and various entities has put the city in the ranking of those with fewer restrictions and more beds for severe cases of Covid-19”. He also presented the creation of the Entrepreneur Defense Code, the second one in Brazil, the Microfinance Law, and an exclusive department to attend and guide entrepreneurs.

LIDE SC – Group of Business Leaders of Santa Catarina brings together the main managers of the state with the aim of integrating companies, organizations, and private entities through debate programs, business forums, and content activities. Almeida Junior, Portobello, Intelbras, Bertol, Engie, Happymed, AsQ, Sicoob, and BRDE are official partners of the entity. And the supporters Calcard, Teltec Solutions, Hotel Faial, Fiesc, Inova, Acelera Online, WBK, 8R, and Bornhausen & Zimmer.