Private company

Unimarc

Logo: Supermercados SMU, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Chilean Supermarket Chain

Unimarc is a Chilean Supermarket Chain owned by the Chilean group SMU. As of 2025, it has nearly 300 locations across all 16 regions of Chile, making it the biggest supermarket in the country by location count.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1961Founded1

Unimarc is a Chilean Supermarket Chain owned by the Chilean group SMU. As of 2025, it has nearly 300 locations across all 16 regions of Chile, making it the biggest supermarket in the country by location count.2

The story

Unimarc (First Called Cooperativa de Consumidores Unidos) was founded in 1961 and was comprised by Sodimac Workers. After a name change to Unicoop, its statutes were approved in August 1961 by the Industry and Commerce Directive. Its first supermarket was located in the corner between the Alameda and Dieciocho avenues. After the 1970s economical crisis it was acquired by the Viña del Mar Sugar Refining Company (CRAV) and was renamed to Unicrav. After the bankruptcy of the companies of the Ross Group (Owner Of CRAV), Unicrav was acquired by Francisco Errázuriz and renamed to its current name of Unimarc in 1981. In 1991 Unimarc also started operations in Argentina, though in 1998 it retired from them, and its six stores in the country were divided between Supermercados Norte and Cencosud.

In May 2008, the company was acquired by Álvaro Saieh and annexed into other supermarket chains, creating the biggest in Chile. In 2011, SMU merged with Supermercados del Sur.

From Wikipedia’s article on Unimarc, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1961Founded Founded1

Sources

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