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Company - History and Corporate Profile
History
The Company opened its first store, “Marisa Handbags” (“Marisa Bolsas”), in 1948 under the leadership of its founder, Bernardo Goldfarb. During its first years in operation, Marisa gradually developed brand recognition among Brazilian women. In 1950, the Company was at the forefront of developments in the women’s clothing market and Marisa opened what it believed to be the first outlet store in Brazil, “Marisa Wear” (“Marisa Malhas”).
Shortly thereafter, Marisa applied the brand name “Marisa” to all of its stores. The Company can attribute its early growth to a gradual and planned development. Marisa became recognized nationwide as a chain for women’s fashion clothing and lingerie because of its philosophy of offering women quality clothing at affordable prices.
In 1952, the Company began expanding its operations throughout Brazil, opening new stores in Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Recife and Manaus. In 1982, Marisa was present in all of Brazil’s regions and, in 1990, following retail market trends, the Company opened its first store in a shopping center in the city of São Paulo.
In 1999, Marisa adopted a new store model, increasing the mix of products offered by the Company. It then developed a new concept of stores with sales area greater than 1,200 m² that sold men’s and children’s clothing and bed, table and bath linens, as well as women’s clothing.
To better meet its customers’ needs, in 1999 Marisa created its private label credit card, the Marisa Card, to provide credit to its customers. The Company also opened its online store, Marisa Virtual, which facilitates purchases through its website (www.marisa.com.br).
In 2001, Marisa entered into a new phase of modernization and expansion which included the standardization of its stores’ display merchandise according to “lifestyle” categories. As a part of this transition, Marisa has focused on improving and modernizing its brand’s image.
In 2006, in order to expand the types of consumer credit offered to their Marisa Card holders, the Company executed a purchase agreement to acquire SAX, a financial institution, with the main purpose of offering personal loans for selected holders of the Marisa card.
In 2008 the Company closed a business deal with Banco Itaú, launching ItauCard Marisa, a co-branded credit card.
Today, Marisa has 336 stores and a sales area equivalent to 346,400 square meters, present in every state of the country, providing Brazilian women with quality fashion at the best cost-benefit ratio in the retail segment. Our multi-format store concept - Marisa Ampliada, Maria Feminina and Marisa Lingerie -, well distributed among street and shopping mall stores, has proved to be a winning strategy that affords us great flexibility to grow. And, above all, our business model is entirely aligned with the characteristics of our target customers, the middle-lower income group, which, despite short-term variations, has shown a structural trend toward long-term growth.
Corporate Profile
Overall Context
Marisa S.A. is the largest Brazilian department store chain specialized in women’s clothing based on the number of stores in Brazil. The Company’s business strategy and operations focus primarily on middle-lower income women between the ages of 20 and 35. The Company’s target customers are members of the largest socioeconomic group in Brazil, according to the Brazilian Association of Population Studies (Associação Brasileira de Estudos Populacionais), or ABEP. Marisa designs and sells at competitive prices a wide variety of products that reflect current national and international fashion trends. Its products are sold primarily under the brand “Marisa” and are displayed in Marisa’s stores according to “lifestyle” categories.
During Marisa’s more than 60 years in business, the Company has developed in-depth knowledge of the needs and tastes of its target customers. As a result, Marisa has developed a corporate image that reflects the affinity the Company believes it shares with Brazilian women. “Marisa” brand is recognized today throughout Brazil as young, modern and sexy. It is associated with the well-known slogan “By Women for Women” (“De Mulher para Mulher”), a slogan that reflects Marisa’s image as a company that understands and responds to the needs and desires of its target market. For example, according to surveys carried out by Interscience, Marisa is the first choice of middle-lower income Brazilian women who want to be fashionable and to acquire quality lingerie at competitive prices.
Day-to-day operation at the stores
Women´s fashionable apparel is presented according to the following life styles: young, contemporaneous, classic, surf wear, aerobics and beach: intimate apparel is presented according to life styles: young, contemporaneous, sensual and classic; men’s fashionable apparel is presented according to life styles: young, contemporaneous, casual and social; and kids’ fashionable apparel is segmented according to age groups: 1 to 3, 4 to 8 and 10 to 16.
In addition, Marisa invested in the stores’ visual merchandising, aiming at boosting the purchase of complementary items. The Company introduced the freshness concept (daily product renewal, aimed at constantly attracting clients to the stores.
Marisa believes its success is due to its stores’ pleasant and modern environment, which are well decorated and have creative and attractive display windows. The Company strives to offer its customers a higher quality of customer service than that offered by its main competitors and to transform their shopping experience into a “dream” instead of just the purchase of clothing.
Online Store
Additionally, unlike the Company’s main Brazilian competitors, Marisa has an online store, Marisa Virtual (www.marisa.com.br). The online store allows the Company to reach customers in Brazilian cities in which it does not have a physical presence and to increase its data base of target customers.
Cards
In 1999, Marisa launched the Marisa Card and the financial products affiliated with it. Through the Marisa Card, the Company offers its customers credit lines and insurance products in a quick, straightforward and simple manner.
In 2008 the Company closed a business deal with Banco Itaú, launching ItauCard Marisa, a co-branded credit card.
The Marisa Card (Private Label and Co-Branded) is an important aspect of its business strategy because it fosters long-term relationships with its customers and increases its revenue from sales.
Positioning in the Brazilian retail market
The Company believes the Brazilian clothing retail industry has great growth potential, in particular due to the (i) favorable macroeconomic conditions in Brazil, which include increased availability of credit to middle-lower income consumers and a continued reduction in interest rates; (ii) increasing number of women in the Brazilian labor market, their increasing purchasing power and their growing expenditure on clothing items; (iii) contraction of the Brazilian informal job market and consolidation of the clothing retail market, which is highly fragmented; and (iv) increasing use of the internet by middle-lower income consumers and resulting growth of online purchases.
Marisa believes its leading position among women of Brazil’s middle-lower income socioeconomic group, its stores’ presence throughout Brazil, its online store and the credit products provided by Marisa Card place the Company in a privileged position to benefit from the potential growth of the Brazilian clothing retail industry.
Today, Marisa is present in all Brazilian regions, with four distribution centers strategically located close to the largest Brazilian consumer markets.