Call it the revenge of the soda counter, Mexico-style.
On Monday, Mexican non-alcoholic-beverage powerhouse FEMSA -- otherwise known as Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V., owner of the world's largest franchise Coke-bottler, Coca-Cola FEMSA (KOF +2.98%), announced that it has bought itself a drugstore chain. Specifically, FEMSA says it has bought Farmacias FM Moderna, which operates more than 100 drugstores in the western state of Sinaloa.
The company also owns a 75% stake in the Farmacias Yza chain in southeast Mexico, bought just last month, and runs the OXXO chain of small-format stores.
The company didn't say why it is buying drugstores, other than as part of a "strategy to establish a relevant position in this attractive small-box retail segment." But the purchases do seem to provide a guaranteed retail sales outlet for the beverages its Coca-Cola FEMSA unit produces.
