“Are you working at Cirque Du Soleil, Chalim?” The reaction, between mockery and admiration, was to the video that Chalim Savegnago sent to the WhatsApp group of directors of the Associação Paulista de Supermercados, Apas. The president of Savegnago supermarkets did vigorous sit-ups – upside down, with his feet attached to a suspended iron bar.
At 65 years old, Sebastião Edson Savegnago (read savenhágo), Chalim, has already surpassed the age at which his father, Aparecido Savegnago, chose to retire by one year. It was Aparecido who founded the supermarket chain in 1976, in the city of Sertãozinho, Ribeirão Preto region (SP).
The business remained in the family, now under the leadership of the children. At the head of the group are the brothers Chalim, president of the network and vice-president of the board of directors, and Toninho, vice-president of the network and president of the board. Partners in management and legacy, each one owns 50% of the business.
“We don’t have two sides,” Chalim tells InvestNews. “There is only one side of the rope to pull. Everyone pulls together, right?”
Owner of 63 Savegnago Supermercados units, five Paulistão Atacadista units and three smaller markets, Savegnago Prático, the group is expected to close 2024 with revenues of R$6.6 billion – the forecast for 2025 is one billion more. This year’s figure already places it among the 10 largest in the State of São Paulo and among the 15 largest in Brazil.
Including distribution centers, maintenance, fuel stations and the administrative headquarters – still in Sertãozinho –, the Savegnago Group employs more than 12 thousand people.
And all this using a very conservative management style.
First earn, then invest
“The money I invest here is the money I earn here. I have to earn first and then invest,” says Chalim. According to him, the group has no shortage of proposals for loans and financial operations that could accelerate the expansion of the network, but banks and managers tend to leave conversations with the president of Savegnago frustrated.
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The group’s debt, says Chalim, is practically zero. There is also little room for external investors. In addition to the holdings family members of the two brothers and the group’s suppliers, only the owners of the properties and land on which the supermarkets operate profit from Savegnago.
And they are less than half of the network. Of the 68 buildings in which the Savegnago and Paulistão Atacadista units operate, 37 belong to the group’s equity company, Savegnago Empreendimentos e Participações (SEP), which receives the rent paid by the units. The rent that Savegnago deposits for Savegnago itself is the money that finances the expansion of the company as a whole.
There is no distribution of SEP profits. Everything is reinvested in the company itself, the group’s “almost zero debt” formula. First earn, then invest.
“So, we followed the Anhanguera and Bandeirantes route without breaking down,” says Chalim, in reference to the main highways in the regions where the group’s investments are concentrated, Campinas and Ribeirão Preto. There are now 22 municipalities, all in the interior of São Paulo, which together have a population of 6.7 million
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‘Err’ pulled
The caipira identity is part of the business model. It’s no surprise that Savegnago Supermercados’ slogan is “the strong chain in the interior of São Paulo”. Read with an accent: Strong. InteriorR; with the “erre” retroflexed, pulled – better conveys the countryside spirit.
General Director of Apas – and one of those who was impressed by Chalim’s abs mentioned at the beginning of the text –, Carlos Correa explains that local supermarket chains have the advantage of being closer to the consumer and knowing their needs better, which is usually translate into more personal service and the offering of specific products for the region.
“Furthermore, in smaller cities, the supermarket has more space for exchange with the community, it even sponsors fairs”, laughs Correa. But there are fairs and fairs.
“Chalim sponsored Os Independentes when no one wanted to put money into the rodeo”, says the director of Apas. The Independents are the organizing club of the Festa do Peão de Boiadeiro de Barretos, today considered the largest rodeo in Latin America.
Proudly “redfoot” and firmly down to earth, Chalim is now preparing the next generation of Savegnago to run the business. His sons, Murilo and Rodolfo, work at the company and will be responsible for consolidating it in the Brazilian supermarket scene.
But not so soon. For now, the idea of letting go of the jamb doesn’t seduce Chalim. On the contrary.
“When I lose the desire to work, my legs no longer help, then I have to be smart to pass the baton, right?” jokes Chalim, while remembering: “Yesterday I ran 5 kilometers in 39 minutes and 42 seconds.”
Chalim’s legs – and willingness to lead – are still far from asking for rest.
