Más: The SAM’s Club of the Hispanic Community

The retail giant out of Arkansas is expanding its business even further –or “más alla”– in the Hispanic community with the new Más Club format. That’s right. Wal-Mart will soon be launching Más, its first attempt to tap into the Hispanic bulk-buyers market.

Más will open doors in summer 2009 and according to Kristy Reed from Wal-Mart, the new format is part of a pilot program. Demand will be the key deciding factor to whether this format is launched in other key Hispanic cities across the U.S. Más will offer a variety of well-known Mexican brands (consumer goods). Other items will include meat, seafood, fresh produce, bakery, café and a pharmacy.

The primary benefactor of buying a huge discounted bag of tamarindo or horchata will most likely be the wide variety of tienditas, panaderias and restaurantes that are spread all over Houston. And thinking of Houston, why did Wal-mart decide to test this format in this city and not in LA, Chicago, or even Dallas. According to Reed, “The need for Hispanic goods is growing and thriving in Houston. The demographics of the area made this the right location to kick off this new format.”

Reeds also added that Más is also part of the diversification effort that Wal-Mart is committed to. She stated that, “this basic principle has led to the development of Sam’s Club, Sam’s Club Business Center, Neighborhood Market, Marketside, and other formats under the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. umbrella. By diversifying our product and format offerings, we can attract additional consumers and present products and services most relevant to each.”

One more thing, is it possible that a multimillion dollar company such as Wal-Mart simply decided to reverse the SAM name to create a brand for the Latino market? It is hard to believe although the word “más,” which translates to “more” in English, makes sense.