city at night

city at night

Friday, April 7, 2017

Shopping at Chedraui

Even though my apartment is very well equipped, there were certain things that I wanted to buy for the kitchen...  plastic containers for storing leftovers, a mesh strainer, some wooden spoons and a tortilla warmer.  I probably could have found those items at Sears, which is just a couple blocks away in the mall at the World Trade Center.  However, believe it or not, here in Mexico Sears is an upscale department store, and its prices are not cheap even by "gringo" standards.  Instead I wanted to go to a store such as Soriana, Comercial Mexicana or Chedraui.  These chains are all similar to Walmart and sell a wide variety of merchandise... groceries, clothing, housewares, electronics, toys, etc., etc. 

I went to Google Maps to find which store would be closest to me.  I found a Chedraui on Avenida Universidad that was 3.3 kilometers away.  It was not located near a Metrobus or subway line, but 3.3 kilometers is 2 miles.  I can walk that!  So I headed out on foot and after 30 minutes I had arrived.  It was located within a shopping mall called "Pabellón del Valle".




I guess you could say that I have a bit of history with Chedraui.  I can remember shopping at their very first store.  Back in the 70s and 80s I would frequently visit friends in Jalapa, the capital of the state of Veracruz.  Down the street from their home was the first and (at that time) only Chedraui store.  I used to enjoy going there.  It was sort of junky, but you could find all sorts of things there.  That first store was founded in 1971 by Lazaro Chedraui.  Since then, the business has grown to 235 stores all over Mexico, and it is the third largest retailer in the country.  It is still owned and operated by the Chedraui family. 

The store I visited yesterday was certainly not "junky".  The supermarket portion of the store was quite fancy with an in-store café and a sushi bar.  I found everything that I was looking for, and when I was done shopping I took a taxi back to the apartment.



4 comments:

  1. Glad you're getting settled in.

    I second your thoughts about Sears - the ones here in the US are positively ghetto, while the ones in Mexico are quite nice, with prices to match.

    Oh, and Pabellon del Valle is one block north of Metro Zapata.

    Saludos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My friend Alejandro says that Sears is second only to Palacio de Hierro as the most upscale department store chain... even a little more expensive than Liverpool.

      I realized after the fact that there was a Metro station not too far away from Chedraui. But given the fact that I would have to take the Metrobus, and then two different lines on the subway, it was probably just as easy to walk there.
      Saludos,
      Bill

      Delete
    2. I'd rather serve on the front lines of Iraq than ride the Metrobus, which is *always* ridiculously crowded, and slower than molasses. :)

      Delete
    3. No, not always. Just this morning I took the Metrobus from Poliforum to Glorieta Insurgentes, and I actually had a seat!

      Delete