History
Horst Paulmann gained experience in the supermarket industry through his family's restaurant Las Brisas, which they acquired in 1952 and managed jointly with his brother Jürgen since 1956. In 1961, Las Brisas transitioned from a restaurant to a supermarket format, similar to what Almac had been doing in Santiago since 1957. The chain expanded throughout the country in the following years.
Later, the Paulmann brothers migrated to Santiago and founded the first Jumbo, which opened on September 9, 1976, on Avenida Kennedy 9001 in the Las Condes commune of Santiago, Chile, where the Alto Las Condes shopping center is now located. Their objective was to offer a wider range of products than was possible to find in other supermarkets. To increase visibility, they created the supermarket mascot Jumbito, based on a famous pachyderm of the same name from an old New York circus. Later, the brothers separated their businesses, with Horst keeping Jumbo and Jürgen keeping Las Brisas. More stores were added, such as the one on Avenida Francisco Bilbao on August 23, 1980. The company Cencosud was established in 1978, and in 1982, the first hypermarket outside of Chile was opened in Buenos Aires.[3]
In June 2011, a new store called "Jumbo Madero Harbour" was opened in Buenos Aires, which became the chain's first "premium supermarket." This store measures 13336 m², while regular stores typically range around 8000 m², and focuses on selling fresh and frozen foods, seafood, groceries, ready-to-eat meals, perfumes, cleaning supplies, wine, and imported products.[4][5]
On October 18, 2012, the Cencosud group announced the acquisition of Carrefour Colombia's assets for €2.6 billion, effectively changing the brand from Carrefour to Jumbo and Metro over the next 8 months following the purchase.[6]
In 2012, workers at Jumbo went on strike demanding a wage increase and various improvements in the work environment.[7] The first national strike took place on April 4, followed by another on October 8 in Santiago, Rancagua, and Viña del Mar.[8] On October 23, workers supported by the Workers' United Center of Chile denounced anti-union pressures in stores in the central-southern region of the country.[9] On October 30, 98% of 1,700 Jumbo workers across Chillán, Hualpén, Concepción, Los Ángeles, Osorno, and Temuco voted to join the strike, dissatisfied with the salary adjustment offered by the company.[10] Finally, on November 7, an agreement was reached with the company, suspending the planned strike for that day.[11]
