Supermarkets Mexico

Catalina Marketing Corp. of Anaheim has formed a joint venture to expand its in-store electronic marketing network into Mexico, the company said Tuesday. A pilot program is now operating in six stores owned by Aurrera, a Mexican supermarket chain. Catalina owns 52% of Catalina Marketing de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. Antonio Fernandez, the new company's president, owns 42%, and an unidentified investor owns the remaining shares.

Catalina Marketing Corp. of Anaheim has formed a joint venture to expand its in-store electronic marketing network into Mexico, the company said Tuesday. A pilot program is now operating in six stores owned by Aurrera, a Mexican supermarket chain. Catalina owns 52% of Catalina Marketing de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. Antonio Fernandez, the new company's president, owns 42%, and an unidentified investor owns the remaining shares.

Two small ethnic grocery-store chains are combining in a bid to grab a greater share of the Latino market in Southern California. On Monday evening, the Gigante chain of seven stores will close its doors, reopening Tuesday morning as part of its competitor, the El Super chain. In all, there will be 15 El Super markets in Southern California. The name change follows the May purchase of all seven Gigante stores by City of Commerce-based Bodega Latina Corp., which operates El Super.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said Tuesday that it plans to expand both domestic and international operations. The company also said it won't open its revamped Web site until Jan. 1--a later-than-expected start date that will miss this year's holiday shopping season. Wal-Mart, which employs more than 1 million people, said it will open, remodel or move as many as 340 stores during its next fiscal year.

Mexican strawberry growers are suspending their harvests and laying off thousands of workers as sales plummet due to a U.S. hepatitis scare linked to Mexican berries, growers and officials said Tuesday. The Mexicans continued to insist that the hepatitis A virus that recently sickened more than 160 students and adults in Michigan and panicked thousands of parents did not originate south of the border.

Mexico is now the No. 2 trade partner of the United States, after Canada. In September, the total of exports and imports flowing between the U.S. and Mexico surpassed trade between the U.S. and Japan. It was a turning point, not a fluke. Statistics for merchandise trade--more than $170 billion this year--understate the rapid growth of U.S.-Mexico commerce on many fronts.

Valley Food Warehouse, 14530 Nordhoff St., Panorama City, (818) 891-9939. Open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. When the Valley Food Warehouse opened four years ago, it was primarily stocked with all the familiar necessities of Mexican cooking, from refrigerated nixtamal to queso anejo.