Chilean retailer La Polar readies Colombia entry
SANTIAGO, June 19 (Reuters) - Chilean retailer La Polar LAP.SN said on Friday it had secured an option to buy a store in a mall in Colombia, a move that paves the way for its first foray outside Chile and into the wider Latin American market.
The option is on a store in the Centro Mayor shopping center in the Colombian capital, Bogota, and is valid until the end of August.
"If the operation materializes, it will mean the store will open in the second half of 2010," La Polar said in a note to Chile's market regulator.
Shares in La Polar traded 1.54 percent firmer in Friday morning trade.
La Polar has 40 department stores throughout Chile but has not yet expanded internationally. Its main rivals -- Chile's Cencosud CEN.SN, one of Latin America's largest retailers, and Chilean retailer Falabella FAL.SN -- have department stores throughout Colombia. (Reporting by Antonio de la Jara; Writing by Alexia Vlahos; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
