Ara brings 'hard discount' to its Colombia stores

Ara is going invest more  to invest some $700 million to open more "hard discount" stores for low-income shoppers in Colombia. It already has 475.

Ara is owned by Portugal-based Jerónimo Martins, which will be using a $93 million credit in pesos from the World Bank's International Financial Corporation.

The new stores will have the same format as the existing stores. Ara always insists on women forming at least half of its workforce.