This Friday, November 15, TRAKI, the famous and popular chain of department stores, reaches a milestone: it celebrates its 40th Anniversary. And it celebrates it in a big way, carrying out different activities in its more than forty commercial establishments throughout the country.
The successful company, founded in 1984 by Antonio Chambra Brouri (who remains at the helm as its president), has plenty of reasons to celebrate, as TRAKI celebrates four decades of existence as one of the most emblematic, recognized and appreciated brands in the country.
TRAKI has earned this iconic status in the memory and thoughts of Venezuelans, thanks to being an example of the ability to adapt to market changes. How did they achieve this? Through a distinctive characteristic that very well defines and specifies the word “evolution.”
THE WONDERFUL history of TRAKI: Expansion, development and consolidation of a dream born in Guayana
The department stores known today as TRAKI were born in mid-November 1984 with the opening of a first establishment in Puerto Ordaz, in the state of Bolívar. At that time, its name was LA MARAVILLOSA, and it began as a space focused primarily on the sale of clothing and footwear, with the premise of offering the highest quality at the best and most competitive prices.
The year had not yet ended when a new branch of the store was already being inaugurated, also in Puerto Ordaz, specifically in the Trébol Shopping Center, this time under the name TRAFICC, which would identify the company until the beginning of the 90s.
Between 1986 and 1989, branches were opened in other parts of Guayana such as in Ciudad Bolívar and San Félix, and it began to expand in the east of the country with the opening of a store in Maturín. Such expansion, however, would accentuate its development with the change of decade, which brought with it the definitive name of the company.
And it is that, from 1990, the company began to be called TRAKI, a change that occurred because on Margarita Island there was a registered trademark TRAFICC, and the board decided in favor of being unique, so they began to look for a new identity. How did they find it? In order not to lose the advertising material of the TRAFICC neon signs, part of them were recycled, using the same letters, keeping TRA, including the K, rescuing the I… and that’s it: that’s how the name TRAKI came about! This idea, based on economic and creative optimization criteria, was generated and proposed by Antonio Chambra Brouri himself.
From the East to Los Llanos and from there to all of Venezuela
At the beginning of 1990, a store with the new name was opened in Puerto La Cruz, and then, in the middle of the year, TRAKI El Tigre did the same, in the Rhame Shopping Center, this being the largest location up to that time. The company’s expansion would reach Los Llanos, with openings in Valle de La Pascua and San Fernando de Apure, in 1992.
Also in 1992, other new locations arrived, in Barcelona, Cumaná, Carúpano and Barinas, generating great expectations in the population, who responded en masse to the call, accepting and embracing fully, as well as with excitement, the concept offered by the chain, which, by the way, took up again in Guayana with the opening of TRAKI Upata at the end of that year. This return to the roots –geographically– was a party that, as a curious fact, had the presence of the cast of ‘Por Todas Calles’, the successful soap opera of the moment.
The rest of the decade and the beginning of the new century witnessed the rapid growth of TRAKI throughout the country, with the opening of more branches in the central part of the country: Valencia and Maracay (in the aforementioned year 92), Cagua in 2000, and La Victoria in 2006. In 2010 and 2012, other stores were opened in the capital of Carabobo.
TRAKI arrived in the western region and in the Andes in 1993 with the opening of a store in Acarigua. Then came Barquisimeto in 1995, and then Punto Fijo in 1996. Mérida followed that same year, and in 1998 there was already a branch in San Cristóbal. Carora and El Vigía opened in 2001 and 2010, respectively.
TRAKI arrived in Zulia with an opening in Maracaibo, specifically in El Milagro, in 1996 (the famous store for GINSU knives, selling entire containers). Then the expansion continued in La Limpia in 2000, in 2004 in Cabimas, and in 2010 it opened in Ciudad Ojeda with great force. Today there are also stores in Los Haticos and the Cima Shopping Center.
The takeover of the capital: Caracas
The first TRAKI store in the city of Caracas, capital of Venezuela, opened in 1994, in Cruz Verde, in front of the Palace of Justice. There, the production of exclusive clothing began, with a floor being set up to manufacture jeans for men and women. This was the way in which the company decided to join the support requested by the national authorities regarding the development of the national industry.
After that, came the headquarters in Sabana Grande, in the old Bazar Bolívar, in 2002. Then, another one opened on the hottest corner of the boulevard, at the exit of the Plaza Venezuela Metro. Quickly, another one on Baralt Avenue in 2005, to make way for the headquarters also on the boulevard, next to the Gran Café. In 2006, a new one opened in the Propatria Shopping Center, and in recent years a few more have opened.
Key: Focus 100 % on customers and their shopping experience
This stable, rapid and solid growth over four decades of TRAKI came hand in hand with a marked evolution of its business model, which began to prioritize accessibility and variety of products, allowing the company to position itself as a benchmark in the retail sector in Venezuela, as well as the favorite shopping point for people.
Since its inception and origin, TRAKI began to modernize to adapt in the best way to the new century, implementing more attractive and functional designs in its structures, and incorporating cutting-edge technology in all aspects of its stores, in order to definitively enrich the shopping experience, focusing 100 % on the customer.
Today, the firm has consolidated itself as a brand, and its commercial establishments are spaces where Venezuelans can get practically everything, from clothing and footwear to household items, toys, technology, beauty products and more.
As if that were not enough, in this last decade the company continued to update and expand its business model, creating CENTRO TRAKI, a new concept of shopping centers in which not only the acquisition of products is the priority, but also comprehensive entertainment for the whole family with food fairs, parks, cultural and sports spaces and a long etcetera.
TRAKI FOUNDATION: People as a priority
Something that has also been very present in TRAKI since its establishment 40 years ago is its commitment to the well-being of Venezuelans, since the company has directly or indirectly influenced the social and commercial development of each sector in which one of its stores or shopping centers is located.
This has also been achieved with the creation of the TRAKI FOUNDATION in 2019, under the leadership of its executive director, Alexandra Butler de Chambra. This non-profit organization was born with the premise of working for the development of Venezuelan children and youth, and since then it has generated alliances with dozens of institutions, benefiting more than 220 thousand children, adolescents or young people, almost 4 thousand representatives and teachers, and, indirectly, some 140 thousand more people.
TRAKI: A family purpose and dream
Talking about TRAKI is talking about much more than a chain of stores or a business group. It is a family identity born from the firm desire and decision of entrepreneurship of its founder, Antonio Chambra Brouri, who since the 80s has strived to build an integral and exemplary company.
In its beginnings, in this aspiration and purpose he was accompanied with great enthusiasm by the figure of Óscar Patino, who was a great support in the expansion process (and today remains part of the firm).
And today? TRAKI is a company guided by family values, so Chambra is accompanied by his children. Two of them, Michael Chambra and Nadia Chambra, have fully joined the company with intense dedication, responsibility and good judgment.
Work and team: Results in sight
Antonio Chambra Brouri founded TRAKI in 1984 and, after four decades, time has allowed him to evolve from entrepreneur to businessman thanks to his firm belief in the value of work and perseverance, fundamental aspects of life that he learned from his parents and that he has been applying in his company.
In this 40th Anniversary, it is precisely the value of TRAKI’s human capital that is one of its fundamental factors for success. And here we are talking about a conglomerate that today has thousands of employees, and that in global calculations throughout its business history has generated many jobs throughout the country.
This has allowed TRAKI to become one of the companies with the greatest employer power in Venezuela in these four decades of history. This, of course, has served as a valuable grain of sand in favor of the socioeconomic and productive development of the nation.
This November 15th: Starting point towards an even more prosperous and successful future
TRAKI celebrates its first 40 years this November 15th, with an indelible presence in the national market, since to date there are more than forty branches distributed in the states of the country, all of them focused on, and representing the pinnacle of, the shopping experience in Venezuela.
And it will be in each of these branches that this Friday the 40th Anniversary of the company will be celebrated in style, celebrating the achievement and materialization of a dream that has been able to grow alongside Venezuelan society and its needs, and that today builds a bridge to an even more prosperous and successful future.
With information from TRAKI, Antonio Chambra Brouri, social networks and other media
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