The Borque family owns the Soriana hypermarket conglomerate. Francisco Martin Borque reinvented the retail chain based on his uncle, Don Pascual Borque’s, fabric business.
Francisco, his brother, and his father emigrated from Soria, Spain, to Mexico to join Don Pascual, who had established a business in Torreon, Coahuila. Francisco and his father, Pedro Martin, originally tried to create a business in Zacatecas. After the venture proved unsuccessful, Francisco took over Don Pascual’s business when the latter returned to Madrid for health reasons.
Francisco married Ana Maria Bringas, and the two had eight children. Francisco worked closely with his brother, Armando Martin Borque, in the expansion of the family business. The brothers launched the company’s first public offering on the Mexican stock market in 1987. Francisco died in 1998, followed by Armando in 2011.
Ricardo Martin Bringas, Francisco’s youngest son, took over as CEO of the family business. Ricardo works as the company’s managing director, and his net worth is listed as $2.1 billion.
Under Ricardo’s leadership, the business expanded to control more than 600 stores in over 200 cities and operate 14 distribution centres throughout Mexico. In 2006, he moved the headquarters from the company’s original city of Torreon to Monterrey.
Ricardo’s efforts have helped him to achieve a listing as one of Expansion Magazine’s 100 Most Important Entrepreneurs in Mexico in 2010.
