Retail: Mexico
Key Facts
—Power Index. Mexico ranks 2nd of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 70.8 points (November 2026 edition).
—What. Oxxo, Mexico’s biggest convenience-store chain, opened 191 stores and closed 140 in July to September 2026.
—Net gain. Net additions fell 71.8% from a year earlier, to 51 stores; Oxxo now has 24,759.
—Why. Femsa, Oxxo’s Monterrey-based owner, says the closures were old, low-performing stores in a review of about 250.
—Cost. Femsa management says closures cost about 0.2 points of Oxxo Mexico’s operating margin; operating profit would have risen about 8% without them.
—Next. Femsa expects the clean-up to continue in the fourth quarter and to fall short of 1,000 net new stores in 2026.
Mexico’s biggest convenience-store chain is closing its weakest shops while sales at the rest keep rising. Femsa, its owner, says the clean-up will carry on into the fourth quarter.
Mexico’s biggest convenience-store chain is quietly shutting its weakest shops. Oxxo opened 191 stores in the third quarter of 2026 but closed 140, leaving a net gain of only 51.
Femsa, formally Fomento Económico Mexicano, is the Monterrey-based owner of Oxxo and also controls Coca-Cola Femsa, a Coca-Cola bottler. Its shares also trade in New York as American depositary receipts, which are US-listed shares of a foreign company, so US investors follow its numbers closely.
Femsa published the figures in its third-quarter results report of 28 October 2026, which we covered in our report on Femsa’s quarterly profit. The closures are real, but the company says they are planned and cost little.
What Happened to the Store Count
Oxxo Mexico opened 191 stores between July and September and closed 140. Net additions were 71.8% lower than a year earlier.
Femsa said the closures were mainly old, low-performing stores. It described them as part of a portfolio-optimisation review, meaning a check of which shops earn their place.
The Quarter in Numbers
- 191 stores opened and 140 closed
- 51 net new stores, 71.8% fewer than a year earlier
- 462 net new stores from January to September
- 24,759 stores at the end of September
Oxxo ended September with 24,759 stores in Mexico. From January to September it added 462 net stores.
That is still growth, but it is slower than the pace Femsa has promised. Our earlier story on Oxxo and its 25,000th store shows how fast the network used to grow.
What the Executives Told Analysts
Femsa’s management said on the analyst call that the review covers about 250 stores in total. Femsa expects the effect of the closures to continue in the fourth quarter, from October to December 2026.
Management said the closures cost about 20 basis points of Oxxo Mexico’s operating margin, which is 0.2 percentage points. Without them, operating profit would have grown about 8% instead of the reported 5.8%.
Martín Arias, Femsa’s chief financial officer, said the company will probably fall somewhat short of its usual pace of 1,000 net new stores a year in 2026. The 1,000-a-year target stays for 2027 and beyond.
Sales Held Up Despite the Closures
Same-store sales, which count only shops open more than 12 months, rose 9.2% in the quarter. Customer traffic grew 3.5%, its best reading in more than two years.
The average ticket, meaning the spend per visit, rose 5.5%, helped by taxes on drinks and cigarettes that lifted prices. Together with the 3.5% rise in traffic, that produced the 9.2% gain in same-store sales.
Oxxo Mexico’s operating profit rose 5.8%, while its revenue grew 10.3%. Operating profit means earnings before interest and tax.
Femsa also runs Bara, its fast-growing discount-store chain. Bara had 786 stores at the end of June 2026 after adding 112 net stores in the second quarter, as we showed in our look at Bara growing faster than Oxxo.
What It Means for Investors and Shoppers
For US investors, the message is that Femsa is trimming weak shops to protect returns. The cost was about 0.2 percentage points of margin, and same-store sales are rising.
For shoppers, the network remains huge, with almost 25,000 outlets across Mexico. Spend per visit is rising, so the typical shopper pays more per trip.
The slower rollout shows a chain choosing quality over quantity. Traffic is up 3.5%, which suggests customers are still coming through the doors, and our Mexico hub follows the wider consumer story.
What Is Not Known
We found no breakdown of the closures by city or state. We could not confirm the Bara store count for September, so we do not give one.
The company says it will fall short of 1,000 net openings in 2026 but gives no number. It has also not said how many of the roughly 250 stores in the review are still to close.
The fourth-quarter results will show how much of the review is left. Investors will then see whether traffic keeps rising as the weakest shops go.
Sources: Femsa third-quarter 2026 results report, 28 October 2026 (femsa.com investor pages). Femsa management remarks to analysts on 28 October 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Oxxo stores closed in the third quarter of 2026?
Oxxo Mexico closed 140 stores and opened 191 between July and September, a net gain of 51. Femsa said the closures were mainly old, low-performing shops.
Will Femsa still open 1,000 Oxxo stores a year?
Its chief financial officer said 2026 will probably fall somewhat short of 1,000 net new stores. The 1,000-a-year target stays for 2027 and beyond.
In depth
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error
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