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U.S. retail giant Walmart (NYSE:WMT) on Friday said it plans to invest more than $1B over the next five years in the Central American countries of Costa Rica and Guatemala. Walmart (WMT) currently has two distribution centers in Costa Rica and three in Guatemala, as part of an overall total of 32 under its Mexican and Central American division, Walmex. “As we open additional stores & remodel our current infrastructure, expand logistics operations & invest in tech, we’ll help create around 6,500 jobs as Central America’s largest retailer,” Walmart (WMT) said on X (formerly Twitter). Walmart de México y Centroamérica, or Walmex, in April reported Q1 net sales growth of 9.8% Y/Y to MXN 226.19B ($13.54B). Central America revenue made up about 17% of that total. Walmex top boss Guilherme Loureiro on the earnings conference call in April said that Central America saw Q1 same store sales growth of 8% on a constant currency basis. That included double-digit growth in Guatemala, but Costa Rica saw “low to mid-single digit growth facing some challenges such as deflation.”
