Soriana
Organización Soriana is a Mexican public company and a major retailer in Mexico with more than 824 stores. Soriana is a grocery and department store retail chain headquartered in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. The company is 100% capitalized in Mexico and has been publicly traded on the Mexican stock exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores), since 1987 under the symbol: "Soriana". Soriana is powered by IT Retail software.

Overview

Soriana was founded in 1968 by Mexican entrepreneurs and brothers, Francisco and Armando Martín Borque, in Torreón, Coahuila. The company currently, as of 2013, operates under the brands Soriana, Clubes City Club, Hipermart, Mercado Soriana, and Super City. Super City is the company's convenience store division brand. It operates supermarkets and department stores for consumer and wholesale markets.

Soriana competes primarily with H-E-B, La Comer, Chedraui, S-Mart and Walmex. Soriana emphasizes that it is Mexican-owned and operated. It is not uncommon to see advertising circulars from competitors Wal-Mart, Bodega Aurrerá, Superama, Chedraui, Alsuper or H-E-B posted around the store with certain items highlighted, pointing out that these items are cheaper at Soriana, a common practice in retail store environments.

On December 6, 2007, Organizacion Soriana acquired Supermercados Gigante for US$1.35 billion. In 2008, Soriana replaced the existing Gigante stores including its seven stores in the United States (U.S. stores were sold in May to Chedraui). Most Mexican stores retained Supermercados Gigante props like point of sale systems and food equipment.

In 2012, it had more than 606 stores in 208 cities in Mexico under 5 store formats, which include 249 Soriana Híper, 105 Soriana Súper, 147 Mercado Soriana, 72 Soriana Express and 33 City Club. It also had 14 distribution centers. In 2006, for reporting and administrative purposes, Soriana moved its headquarters from Torreón to Monterrey.

Promotions in Soriana
Soriana promotes its "Tarjeta del Aprecio" (appreciation card), whereby customers who purchase items earn points for free merchandise, and in-store credits for 20% off in general merchandise.

Sponsor
Soriana is currently the shirt sponsor for the Primera División de la Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (Mexico's Top League) football club Santos Laguna.

Slogans and trade names

Donde Todos los Días son Buenos Días, Where all Days are Good Days (late 1970s)
Responde cuando usted lo necesita, Responds when you need it (1988)
Todos los Caminos Conducen a Soriana, All Ways Lead to Soriana (1990)
Lo Mejor al Mejor Precio, The Best at the Best Prices (1993)
En Suma Pagas Menos, pun meaning Pay Less for the Total or In Short, Pay Less (mid 1990s)
Nuestros Precios Hablan, Our Prices Speak (1999, 2011)
Apre¢io Por Ti or A pre¢io Por Ti, a pun meaning both (At the Right) Pri¢e for You or E$teem for You (2000)
Mejores Ofertas a Precios Más Bajos, Better Offers at Lower Prices (2001)
El Precio Más Bajo Garantizado, The Lowest Price Guaranteed (2002)
El Mayor Ahorro, The Greatest Savings (2007)
Porque nos importas tú, Because We Care for You (2008)
¡Hazlo hiper, y ahorra!, Do hyper, and save! (2013)

Evolution

Store openings by state:
1968 Coahuila
1971 Durango
1972 Chihuahua
1974 Nuevo León
1984 Tamaulipas
1989 Zacatecas
1990 Aguascalientes
1994 Jalisco, Guanajuato
1997 Querétaro
1998 San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Tlaxcala
1999 Michoacán, Colima, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Hidalgo, Puebla
2000 Nayarit
2001 Oaxaca
2002 Yucatán, Chiapas, Baja California Sur
2003 Campeche, Quintana Roo
2005 State of México
2006 Baja California
2007 Distrito Federal, Guerrero
2008 Morelos

Controversy and criticisms

Mexico's 2012 Presidential Elections Soriana gift cards vote buy
At a news conference, the leftist candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed that the election was "plagued with irregularities" and accused the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of allegedly buying votes in favor of Enrique Peña Nieto. He also claims that the PRI handed out gifts to lure voters to cast their vote in favor of them. During the day of the 2012 presidential elections, people who voted for el PRI would receive pre-paid gift cards. Nonetheless, the PRI and the store denied such accusation  and threatened to sue López Obrador. Peña Nieto vowed to imprison anyone – including members of the PRI – if they are found guilty of electoral fraud. Despite Enrique's statement many videos by citizens about the Soriana cards surfaced on YouTube.