Centro de Almaceneros Minoristas, Baristas,
Autoservicistas y Afines

Change in Mentality

Uruguay’s Centro de Almaceneros Minoristas, Baristas, Autoservicistas y Afines (better known as “the Center” or CAMBADU) is undoubtedly the oldest institution to have won the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Award of Excellence in Business Development.

CAMBADU was founded in 1892 by a group of retailers. The purpose was to protect the interests of their trade association in the face of voracious taxation by a government hungry for income in the midst of an international financial crisis provoked by bankruptcy of the Baring Bank. CAMBADU weathered that crisis and many more, becoming Uruguay’s most representative organization of “traditional business” and helping thousands of members confront innumerable transactions.

More than a century later, CAMBADU would again be put to the test. Its members— the majority of whom own micro and small businesses selling domestic consumer products—faced the new challenges of globalization, in this case the overwhelming advance of big supermarket chains.

These mega-enterprises have several advantages over their more modest competitors: professional management, modern business technology, greater negotiating power with suppliers and, above all, access to an enormous volume of information on prices, consumer habits and market trends, in Uruguay and also internationally.

Mario Menéndez, President
of CAMBADU

Thus, the average CAMBADU members continued old-fashioned management of their businesses. In the words of CAMBADU President Mario Menéndez: “The cat on the counter, that’s over now.” Small businesses must modernize. The same was true for CAMBADU, which could no longer limit itself to traditional support services for its members.

CAMBADU signed an agreement with IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) in 1998 to promote a program to strengthen small businesses. Launching this initiative was fortunate, as one of the worst recessions in Uruguayan history began the same year.

Opportunities can also arise from a crisis. CAMBADU underwent profound change. Under the MIF-supported program, the old center established new business development services to offer its members the same management tools used by big businesses—yet adapted to the scale and needs of smaller businesses.

CAMBADU bet on a new model, promoting the concept of “business of proximity” rather than “traditional business.” In addition to modernizing their businesses’ management, CAMBADU members should take advantage of belonging to neighborhoods and family-like relationships with their clients, which are values almost impossible to reproduce in a supermarket.

Thousands of business owners—grocery stores, self-service stores, restaurants and bars—received training in business administration and financing, strategic planning, cost calculations, prices and margins, sales management, inventory management, data processing and negotiation. They also participated in workshops on marketing, customer service, sales technology, and product placement and restocking.

For members who want to establish or expand a business, CAMBADU offers a complete menu of technical assistance that includes site evaluation, analysis of competition and viability, economic and financial assessment, project preparation, marketing, human resource management, establishment of performance benchmarks, and even layout of sites and sign design. CAMBADU also offers courses and workshops for employees appropriate to the business.

One key support is the monitoring of prices and strategies of the big chains, which provides small businesses with information needed in order to compete. CAMBADU encourages group purchases to get better prices and payment terms from suppliers. Another service appreciated by members is the opportunity to take guided tours of businesses in Buenos Aires, where new innovations can be examined.

Program Director Susana Ramela emphasizes that one of the project’s results is that the sector, which had once been threatened, has succeeded in recovering ground. Many members who had previously clung to a survival strategy today speak of growth. CAMBADU itself became an innovative organization that is constantly conducting research to anticipate market trends and meet member demands. “Often, small scale is only in our heads,” Ramela points out.