First Crate & Barrel Department Store Coming to Costa Rica

Daveed Hollander | 5th January 2017 | Share
First Crate & Barrel Department Store Coming to Costa Rica

Crate & Barrel, a highly regarded department store with locations in the United States and Canada, is branching out. The company is investing $4 million to open its first store in Costa Rica. The project is expected to be finished and the store opened for business sometime in early 2017. The new Crate & Barrel store will be located at a business complex to the west of San Jose known as Avenida Escazu.

The local Costa Rica franchise Inversiones CBCR S.A will benefit greatly from this $4 million investment. Monica Fonseca, a Costa Rica manager, stated in a news release that the 2,200-square-meter store will provide jobs for roughly 40 people.

When asked why Inversiones CBCR S.A. chose to have a Crate & Barrel department store built in Costa Rica, the answer was simple. This country offers a stable political environment, there are people available to work, and the store will face healthy competition.

Although this new Crate & Barrel will offer many of the traditional products sold in American stores, such as indoor and outdoor furniture, kitchenware, housewares, and so on, it will also have specialized departments, including decoration, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and lighting.

Costa Rica’s new Crate & Barrel is expected to be well-received by locals. However, it will have some competition from within the Tico market. A number of stores, like La Artistica, Cemaco, Euromobilia, and Altea, will be the new department store’s direct competition.

In 1962, Crate & Barrel chose Chicago, Illinois, as its first U.S. location. Since that time, the company has grown substantially. Today, it operates more than 170 stores throughout North America. However, recognizing an open foreign market, international expansions started six years ago. Through a franchise model with stores in Columbia, Mexico, and Peru, Crate & Barrel now has its sights set on Latin American markets.
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