Cuenca Expats Magazine, Issue 41

Photos: Courtesy of Coral

When expats first arrive to Cuenca, they are amazed by the variety of shopping experiences. Nothing really like this experience in North America. The hustle and bustle of Fiera Libra, the artisan shops in San Francisco Plaza, the colorful street vendors selling everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to tennis shoes around Rotary Plaza to the many large mercados spread around the city.  Many a fun day can be spent in adventure and exploration.

As this shopping novelty wears off, most of us begin looking for a place similar to what we had back home where we can find all we need in one modern location—somewhere familiar for our day-to-day shopping.

Fortunately for us, Cuenca has this option as well: the new Coral at Batan Shopping.  In one place, you can find everything you need. From a fully stocked (with over 500 US products) supermarket with fresh meat, vegetables and fruit, to home furnishings, clothes, hardware, paper goods, all things electrical (great prices on large TV’s), and even their own line of bikes—one-stop shopping. Think Target in the US.

DID YOU KNOW?

CARRIES OVER

500 PRODUCTS FROM 166 U.S BRANDS

CORAL PIC ISSUE 41
CORAL PIC 2 ISSUE 41

There is a new generation of the Ortiz family in Coral’s management. And, they are looking to make Coral the best one-stop shopping experience for Cuenca’s expat community.

“We are working to offer a better shopping experience, making our stores a friendly space for expats who visit us,” comments Juan Pablo Ortiz, president of retail, vice president of GO Corp and grandson of the founder.

“We are working on placing signage in both English and Spanish, adding English shelf talkers so expats can easily recognize where to find all the products in the store.

We are also optimizing the layouts to be able to offer expats a shopping map so they will be able 

to find the aisle that contains the products they want. And, we are in the hiring process to have bilingual staff who can provide support to expats in a timely manner.”

The new Coral Batan has over 8,000 different products on two floors.  On the first floor you will find the entire supermarket, plus kitchen and hardware areas. On the first floor you will also find white lines (appliances) and furniture.

Upstairs you will find clothing, footwear (ladies, men, and children), furniture, household linen, decoration items, stationery, toys, music items, technology (computers and cell phones), hardware, sports equipment (bicycles, gym, etc.) and accessories for vehicles and motorcycle sales.

Coral offers daily discounts, as well as monthly and holiday specials. They even have their own customer loyalty card offering you a 3% discount on your purchases. 

You don’t need to wait until Black Friday to save big!

Other benefits of the new Coral’s location in Batan Shopping are the handy ATM’s, banks, cooperatives, cinema, optics, the food court for snacking, clothing and footwear stores, pharmacy, and other specialty stores for hard-to-find items. Of course, the proximity to expats’ residential areas, underground parking, and ease of getting a taxi are a big plus.

In addition to the location at Batan Shopping, there are six other Coral Hypermarket locations in Cuenca, a total of 18 nationally in Ecuador. Coral (named after Coral Avenue in Miami) was founded in 1973 with the first store in the historic center of the city on Calle Tarqui and Presidente Córdova. It was a small store selling grocery

products. Coral Hipermercados belong to GO Corp (Ortiz business group) which currently has more than 40 companies and a workforce of around 9,000 people nationwide.

CORAL - BATAN SHOPPING👇

CORAL HIPERMERCADO EL BATÁN: Remigio Crespo Toral Avenue and Brasil Street, Cuenca, Azuay 

OTHER LOCATIONS

  • CORAL HIPERMERCADO SAN BLAS: presidente Cordova and Miguel Angel Estrella Street, Cuenca, Azuay
  • CORAL HIPERMERCADO MONAY: Emiliano Zapata and Omar Torrijos Street, Cuenca, Azuay
  • CORAL HIPERMERCADO MALL DEL RIO: Mall del Rio, Felipe II Avenue, Cuenca, Azuay
  • CORAL HIPERMERCADO CALLE TARQUI: Tarqui Street, between Presidente Cordova and Mariscal Sucre, Cuenca, Azuay
  • CORAL CENTRO: De Las Américas Avenue 6-118 and Nicolás de Rocha Street, Cuenca, Azuay
  • CORAL HIPERMERCADO RACAR: Camino a San Pedro Street, Racar Plaza, Cuenca, Azuay

CLICK the icons bellow to check Coral's media and network!

Facebook Mouse-pointer

If you want to enjoy the full edition, please click below!