As part of its strategic growth, Fomento Economico Mexicano S.A.B. of C.V. (FEMSA) has begun rebranding the convenience stores it acquired from Delek US Holdings Inc. last fall to OXXO, an OXXO USA spokesperson told CSP.
“This marks an exciting step in defining what the OXXO brand will represent in the U.S., focusing on a distinctive customer experience supported by a strong employee value proposition,” the spokesperson said.
Currently, OXXO is in a test-and-learn phase, “refining our approach before expanding into new markets,” the spokesperson said. “Our journey starts in the Midland/Odessa [Texas] area, where we currently operate one store in Odessa, and we look forward to growing our presence in the region.”
FEMSA, the Monterrey, Mexico-based beverage bottler and convenience-store retailer, has big ambitions for the fragmented U.S. convenience-store market.
FEMSA has set its sights on becoming a major player in the United States, and its acquisition in October 2024 of the 249-unit retail network of Delek is only the beginning of what could be a national rather than a regional strategy, Constantino Spas, CEO of FEMSA Proximity Americas & Mobility (PAM) Division, told CSP in October.
The $385 million deal with Brentwood, Tennessee-based Delek US established FEMSA in the Southwest United States, primarily in Texas, but also in New Mexico and Arkansas. The stores currently operate under the DK and Alon brands. FEMSA began operating the former Delek US stores on Oct. 1.
FEMSA owns the world’s largest Coke bottler, Coca-Cola Mexico. Its Proximity Americas Division operates the OXXO c-store chain and related retail formats in Mexico, Central America and South America, and now in North America. Its Proximity Europe Division operates Valora, its European retail c-store unit.
Spas said it is difficult to say exactly how many OXXO stores the company has because it opens three stores per day on average in Mexico and closes some stores that don’t achieve the full value proposition. He puts the total number of locations at around 24,600, including about 23,000 in Mexico, 550 in Brazil, 550 in Colombia, 200 in Peru and 300 in Chile. And the pace of growth globally is also picking up “quite fast.”
FEMSA also operates more than 1,200 Shell Select franchised stores in Brazil through a joint venture with Raizen. It also has 560 gas stations in Mexico under the OXXO Gas brand and operates some Pemex stations.
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