Plenia Locatel Group: Globalizing from Venezuela

Abstract

In 2009 the founders and top executives of Plenia Locatel Group, a retail business in Venezuela specializing in health care products and services, were planning a global expansion of the business. Founded by two close friends in 1994, the business grew through franchising and customer focus to 46 stores in Venezuela and 12 more in Colombia, Mexico, Miami, and Russia. As a basis for their globalization, the founders and executives sought to formalize and introduce structure in operations and management and had recently implemented an ERP for operational transactions. A basic issue was how to replicate business success and brand image, built over years of personal involvement and franchisee relationships, without losing the customer service focus in each store.