Don’t worry, aspirationists. Here in Mexico City, money abounds and in some cases, the ambition to enjoy its honey.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador already said it yesterday: “Here is the headquarters of the fifís, there is no way they are going to find a junior like Claudio X González in a state of the republic, no.” I have seen one or another in San Pedro Garza García, but that is another matter.
The context? The president’s opinion on the influence that the media has on a society, he says, is increasingly conservative in the country’s capital.
Ah, how we have changed. From Nescafé we went to Nespresso.
At La Comer they know this and they take advantage of it so that the rest realizes it. La Comer’s target market is “middle and upper socioeconomic classes”, according to a company report.
“Because? Because it is not a well-served market. We compete better against other players. The client values our attributes better. These segments resist crises better. (It is) potentially more profitable,” they explained to financial analysts in a presentation they published on December 31, 2023, when half of Polanco was passing around fresh and aged grapes.
If you have already gone to a City Market or a Fresko you will understand the strategy better. Both supermarket brands are owned by Grupo La Comer.
See how the restaurants on Amsterdam avenues are; or Altavista, in San Ángel, those on Emilio Castelar Street… or Artz’s Negroni, in Pedregal.
Who do they serve? Let’s see. In a radius of 6 kilometers of geography from Mexico City, there are, let’s say, 2 million people whose home receives about 80 thousand pesos a month on average, according to data from Inegi. For the technicians: until 2022, the IX and X quintiles of the population, which represent a fifth of the total, average income of 72 thousand pesos per month.
These two million relatively prosperous people are equivalent to half the population of Uruguay, due to their volume.
Compare your situation with the 20 percent of the richest in the entire country, who on average receive about 50 thousand pesos. Or check what happens in Chiapas, Tlaxcala or Guerrero, whose income is around 33 thousand pesos per month. Be careful, we are talking about the most favored groups.
In the Iron Palace, of the Baillères, they first danced that waltz. They changed the design of their stores years ago and installed tremendous terraces that smell like fifi tacos.
Like in Liverpool they already understood the way. You know that Suburbia – which is part of this company – was not known for serving demanding consumers. The slogan until recently was to sell cheap.
“Suburbia had another strong quarter, achieving its best result in the last six quarters, with comparable sales of 12.6 percent. Almost 30 percent of this increase is explained by greater traffic,” Gonzalo Gallegos, Liverpool’s finance director, boasted at the end of last month.
“These results are due to our continued focus on improve the shopping experience with a better product selectionbetter store maintenance, clear brand signage and our advertising campaigns marketing”. They did not do this to continue the strategy of lowering prices.
Mexico is a country whose meager economic growth has primarily benefited a relatively well-educated minority capable of working in the financial sector, in export manufacturing, or in high government positions.
It is difficult to accept in a country trained since the last century by PRI members, allies who own theaters and some media outlets who focused on dignifying poverty through the narrative of “We the poor, you the rich”, from the Golden Age of Cinema. Pedro is good because he is poor, Jorge is bad because he owns the farm.
Don Ramón is gentle and friendly, Mr. Botija, a prosperous rent collector, is the villain.
It was easier to control the poor than to get them out of misery.
Some politicians continue to exploit the narrative. Others, smarter, take advantage of the generous niche discovered.
