The Rossy family, owners of Dollorama, kept the majority of the company founded by Marco Kriete, nephew of the owner of Avianca, and its expansion does not stop.
Since its arrival in Colombia through Cali at the end of 2016, Dollarcity has experienced a meteoric expansion that has consolidated it as the leading company in sales of low-cost miscellaneous products in the country. Currently, Colombia has become its largest market in the region with 390 stores, far surpassing Guatemala with 110, Peru with 90 and El Salvador with nearly 80 establishments. In total, the chain has nearly 700 stores in Latin America, with an ambitious projection of exceeding 850 points of sale by 2029 after its recent foray into the Mexican market.
The key to Dollarcity’s success lies in its business model, originally conceived by Salvadoran Marco Andrés Baldocchi Kriete, nephew of Avianca’s majority shareholder, Roberto José Kriete, who together with his partner opened the first store in El Salvador in 2010, inspired by the model of discount stores, including the Canadian Dollorama. In 2013, both companies signed an agreement allowing Dollarama to test the concept in the region before executing a purchase option. This process accelerated in 2019, when the Canadian firm finally decided to expand to Latin America and acquired 50.1% of the majority shareholding for approximately USD $95 million to finance regional growth. Subsequently, in June 2024, Dollarama increased its stake to 60.1% after an additional investment of USD $554 million, maintaining the option to acquire an additional 9.89% before the end of 2027.
The Baldocchi family continues to control the rest of Dollarcity’s shares, where Marco Andrés Baldocchi Createcontinues to be the key figure in the management of the company, is the visible face of the regional operation and shares the board of directors with Neil RossyCEO of Dollarama, in charge of supervising the international strategic expansion of both brands, consolidating growth in Latin America with Dollarcity.
Dollorama Inc is a company founded in 1992 by Larry Rossy, from the department store S. Rossy Inc. founded by his grandfather, Salim Rossy who emigrated from Lebanon to Montreal. His son George took over in 1927 and ran the company until his death in 1973, when his son Larry assumed leadership of a company with 20 stores. Larry is responsible for the transformation of the concept into a store selling items under $1 Canadian dollar, which began in 1992 with a store in Matane, Quebec, and catapulted the company over the next two decades.
In 2004, Larry Rossy, faced with the need for resources to maintain rapid growth in stores, decided to partner with the investment fund BainCapital to whom he sold 80% of the company. Five years later, in 2009, when the company went public, Dollorama was already Canada’s largest low-cost merchandise retailer.
Larry, who is the second largest shareholder of the company, left the presidency in the hands of his son Neil Rossy in May 2016 after 43 years in charge, although he remained linked for two years as executive director and is now director emeritus. Dollorama is today run by the fourth generation, Neil, 55 years old, who has been linked to Dollorama for nearly 30 years, is its president, CEO and member of the board of directors. Under Neil’s leadership, the company has tripled its profits and doubled its sales, in part thanks to the commitment to Dollarcity that Neil has been in charge of carrying forward.
Dollarama and Dollarcity offer a balanced product mix that includes general merchandise, consumables and seasonal products. In terms of offering, Dollarcity offers a balanced mix of general merchandise, consumables and seasonal products that include household, cleaning, office, pet and decoration items at affordable prices. The model relies heavily on imports, to the point that in 2024 the company was positioned as the fourth company that imported the most products from China to Colombia. In addition to external brands, the chain promotes its own labels such as Viva Color in the makeup category, maintaining its promise of offering good quality items at low cost in sections dedicated to organization, cooking, stationery and personal care.
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