Walmart Invests $6 Billion in Mexico Even as Economy Slows

Walmart de Mexico SAB (Walmex), the local unit of the U.S. retail giant, plans to invest $6 billion this year in its Mexico operations to add more locations and robotic logistics hubs, escalating its bet on the market despite economic challenges and a brewing U.S. trade conflict.

The expansion will create 5,500 jobs, CEO Ignacio Caride said at Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily news conference March 27 just minutes before heading to the company’s annual meeting with investors. The announcement is a boon for Sheinbaum, who is trying to fend off the threat of tariffs and a pullback in government spending.

The company’s $6 billion Mexico plan includes operating expenses, like marketing and personnel, and the company didn’t say how much it compares with similar spending last year. In a separate statement, Walmex said its 2025 capital expenditures, which include physical equipment, will be 41.8 billion pesos ($2.06 billion) for Mexico and Central America, a 20% increase in local currency from a year earlier.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart, which ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America, owns about 70% of the Mexico City-based retailer, which generates close to 7.6% of the U.S. parent company’s total sales.

Image

A shopper browses products at a Walmart Supercenter in Mexico City. (Marian Carrasquero/Bloomberg News)

Walmex will use the funds to open more stores under the Bodega Aurrera, Sam’s Club, Walmart Supercenter and Walmart Express brands, Caride said. The company has just more than 3,200 stores in the Mexico, where competitors including Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB and Coppel SA have also been in expansion mode in a market where shoppers still flock to physical stores.

Shares of Walmex have gained 6.4% this year.

Made in Mexico

Caride noted that 83% of products sold in the company’s Mexican stores are made in Mexico. That should limit the impact of any tariffs Sheinbaum applies to goods imported from the U.S. The president said March 27 that she would announce Mexico’s response to tariffs from the U.S. after April 2, when President Donald Trump has said he plans to unveil his full plan for trade levies.

Walmex will open two distribution centers in the central region of Bajío and the state of Tlaxcala, the company said. Both will have robotics and artificial intelligence components to make them more efficient, Caride said. There are other 21 other Walmex distribution centers in the country.

The company said it would announce its capital expenditure plans for Central America later March 27.

With a market value of $49 billion, Walmex is one of Mexico’s largest companies and employers. It has a local staff of more than 200,000 people. Last year, its sales rose 8.1%, while its net income grew by 4.3% from 2023.

Walmex executives, including President and CEO of Walmart International Kathryn McLay, were among the first to meet Sheinbaum in June of last year following her election. She was inaugurated in October.

In December, Mexican antitrust commission Cofece slapped a symbolic fine of less than $5 million on Walmex following a four-year probe that found the company violated antitrust rules. The fine is being contested by Walmex.

Walmex’s announcement comes on the same week that Coke bottler Arca Continental SAB disclosed it was investing a record $895 million in 2025, with half of that amount going into its Mexican operation. Another quarter will be used for its U.S. business.