Wong (supermarket)

{{Short description|Peruvian supermarket chain}} {{Infobox company | name = Wong | logo = Logo Wong Cencosud.png | type = Anonymous Society | traded_as = | foundation = 1942 | location_city = | key_people = | industry = Retail | products = Supermarkets | market value = | market cap = | revenue = | title = | work = | accessdate = | net_income = | num_employees = | parent = | subsid = | homepage = [https://www.wong.pe www.wong.pe] }} '''Wong''' ({{IPA|es|ˈwoŋg}}) is a supermarket chain in Peru. Known until 2005 as '''E. Wong''', it was started as a small store in 1942 by Chinese Peruvians in a residential area of the San Isidro District in Lima.

==History and development== thumb|left|Store in Plaza San Miguel, Lima In 1942, Erasmo Wong Chiang Moreno, a Chinese-Peruvian, opened a store at a corner on the tenth block of 2 de Mayo Avenue, in a residential area in San Isidro, a district of Lima. The family business was succeeded by a store operating under the name of "E. Wong" at an old house at the ''Óvalo Gutiérrez'', a roundabout in Miraflores, which opened in 1982.<ref>{{Cite news |title=El adiós del patriarca |url=http://www.larepublica.com.pe/content/view/173080/ |last=Loayza |first=Jorge |date=2007-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823142332/http://www.larepublica.com.pe/content/view/173080/ |archive-date=2007-08-23 |work=La República}}</ref> By 1990, five stores had been opened and two years later all the stores were expanded. In 1993, the company purchased two competing chains, ''Galax'' and ''Todos'', expanding again in 1995 and operating 15 stores by 1999 with the inauguration of another building in Las Gardenias neighbourhood in Santiago de Surco.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cdi.org.pe/casos_exito_ewong.htm |title=Las claves del Imperio Wong |website=CDI |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025164803/https://www.cdi.org.pe/casos_exito_ewong.htm |archive-date=2006-10-25}}</ref> In 2004 it opened its branch in the Asia district, considered the most expensive in the country.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Conoce el SUPERMERCADO más caro de PERÚ: venden licores de S/5.900, carnes de S/539 y comida gourmet |url=https://larepublica.pe/tendencias/2024/03/19/cual-es-el-supermercado-mas-caro-de-peru-venden-licores-de-s5900-carnes-de-s539-y-caviar-wong-evat-666197 |last=Tolentino |first=Scheila |date=2004-03-19 |work=La República}}</ref>

All stores operated by the chain were closed on July 6, 2005, and immediately reinaugurated with its new name of ''Wong''.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tiendas E. Wong cierra desde el miércoles |url=https://larepublica.pe/economia/302142-tiendas-e-wong-cierra-desde-el-miercoles |date=2005-07-03 |work=La República}}</ref> Two years later, the store was acquired by Chilean company Cencosud for 500 million dollars.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Chilena Cencosud compra la cadena peruana Wong por 500 millones de dólares |url=https://www.eleconomista.es/empresas-finanzas/noticias/332283/12/07/Chilena-Cencosud-compra-la-cadena-peruana-Wong-por-500-millones-de-dolares.html |date=2007-12-17 |work=EFE |publisher=El Economista}}</ref> This was originally denied by the chain's founder himself, and was also received negatively by the Peruvian public, marking the beginning of a slow decline in the chain's overall market share.

In 2016, a fire at the supermarket on Asia Boulevard completely destroyed the store's interior, being put out by 11 p.m.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Incendio consumió supermercado en el Boulevard de Asia |url=https://elcomercio.pe/lima/incendio-consumio-supermercado-boulevard-asia-264707-noticia/ |date=2016-01-26 |work=El Comercio}}</ref> After extensive restoration works, the store reopened a week later.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Wong volvió a abrir sus puertas en Boulevard Asia |url=https://gestion.pe/economia/empresas/wong-volvio-abrir-puertas-boulevard-asia-110358-noticia/ |date=2016-01-29 |work=Gestión}}</ref>

The ''Gran Corso de Fiestas Patrias'', a large parade held annually a few weeks before July 28, the day of Peruvian independence, is organized by Wong and attended by more than 100,000 people. The parade is usually celebrated in Miraflores and ends with a fireworks display.

==References== {{Portal|Peru|Companies}} {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Wong (Supermarket)}} Category:Supermarkets of Peru Category:Retail companies established in 1942 Category:Peruvian companies established in 1942 Category:1942 establishments in Peru Category:2007 mergers and acquisitions