Liverpool Fortifies Against Mexican Consumer Weakness: No Room for Error in Fashion – Modaes Global

Companies

21 ago 2026 – 05:00

During the last World Cup, which Mexico co-hosted, Liverpool department stores managed to sell 345,000 Mexican national team jerseys, but sales of other fashion items remained stagnant. This contrast sums up El Puerto de Liverpool’s quarter and, above all, foreshadows the second half of the year ahead: a period in which every retail location counts and in which the company has decided not to waste money on discounts.

The Mexican company closed the second quarter with a 1.5% increase in revenue, reaching 57.29 billion pesos, and net income that soared 55% to 5.122 billion pesos, although that jump is primarily due to an accounting effect: in 2025, the company absorbed the costs of its move to Arco Norte, where it set up its new distribution center

Given these figures, analysts at the quarterly conference wondered how much room for maneuver Liverpool has left for the remainder of the year. The company’s response was to scale back its ambitions

In this regard, the Mexican group revised its forecasts downward for the end of 2026: it now expects same-store sales growth of between 2.5% and 3.5% at Liverpool—two percentage points lower than its previous forecast—and for Suburbia, the range has shifted from growth of between 5% and 6% to a range of between -1% and 1%.The ebitda margin will range from 14.5% to 15.5%, digital GMV will grow between 10% and 12%, and the loan portfolio will grow between 6% and 8%.

Liverpool stated that its priority is to protect profitability through disciplined management

Fashion, a category that struggled in Liverpool’s latest earnings report, is part of the Mexican company’s strategy. The apparel segment was the hardest hit this quarter; beyond weak demand from Mexican consumers, Liverpool attributed the situation to seasonal factors such as the FIFA World Cup, which diverted spending toward other categories and reduced foot traffic in most traditional apparel lines. The exception was sportswear, which grew by 60% at Liverpool.

The challenge of improving its performance in fashion is greater at Suburbia. The low-price fashion retailer has greater exposure in this category and, in the first half of the year, saw a 6.4% decline in comparable sales—a figure the company attributes to both weak demand and a strategic decision to sell fewer clearance items to avoid eroding margins

Liverpool stores, on the other hand, managed to grow 1.7% in comparable sales, well above an industry that declined 1.9% in Mexico during the same period

The Mexican group expects its online business to grow between 10% and 12% this year

Looking ahead to the next half-year, Liverpool has chosen to prioritize protecting its gross margin and managing inventory rather than chasing sales with aggressive discounts. The rest of the business, meanwhile, is taking a more optimistic view of the remainder of the fiscal year

Liverpool’s financial division grew by 9.9% and its real estate division by 8.6%, compared to a modest 0.4% for the retail segment, which includes department stores. In the credit sector, Liverpool has also shifted its focus: after several years of driving portfolio growth to attract new customers, it now prioritizes profitability and building relationships with existing customers, even if that means living with a non-performing loan ratio that rose 72 basis points to 4.7%.

On the digital front, the company acknowledges that the migration of its technology platform weighed more heavily than expected on GMV growth due to operational disruptions during the process, which has now been completed. With that issue resolved, Liverpool expects the digital channel to regain momentum in the second half of the year, within the 10% to 12% growth range it has set for the end of 2026.

At the end of the first half of 2026, El Puerto de Liverpool operated 125 stores under its namesake chain, 72 Liverpool Express locations, 196 Suburbia stores, and 173 boutiques, in addition to its 49.9% stake in Nordstrom, acquired in 2025