In Mexico, at Least, Supermarkets Are Changing Beyond Recognition

Grupo La Comer has added three stores to its network in 2026, with openings in Mexico City, Mérida and Cuernavaca. The stores belong to three of its formats—Sumesa, Fresko and La Comer—and range from an urban proximity unit to supermarkets with more than 6,000 square meters of sales floor space.

The openings are part of a network that reached 95 stores in July and reveal the less obvious side of its expansion. That is, the company serves different consumer segments through four formats with a real estate strategy that does not necessarily involve finding one model that works across Mexico, but rather having concepts different enough for the property, location and consumer to change together.

According to data from SiiLA and the group, nearly 40% of its stores are located in shopping centers. Sumesa is the only format that, because of its urban proximity focus, operates exclusively in street-front locations, with units averaging about 760 square meters. La Comer, Fresko and City Market, by contrast, focus respectively on broad selection, weekly shopping and gourmet offerings, operating in larger spaces averaging between 3,500 and 6,800 square meters, with 35% to 57% of their stores located in malls, depending on the format.

That range became visible in the most recent openings. In June, La Comer resumed Sumesa’s expansion after five years without net growth, a period during which it remained at 13 stores and 10,303 square meters of sales floor space. The company presented the new Coyoacán unit as part of its urban proximity growth strategy. One month later, it opened La Comer Domingo Diez in Cuernavaca, with 6,495 square meters.

The moves show that this diversity also expands the range of real estate opportunities available for growth. Cause a proximity unit can fit where a space of several thousand square meters would not, while larger formats can serve higher-volume shopping needs where there is enough room for a store of that scale. The concept therefore responds not only to the market a store seeks to serve, but also to the properties it can occupy.