the retailer Ricardo Electro now goes by name Our Electro. The first two units of the new banner were recently inaugurated in Minas Gerais after the company was able to reverse its bankruptcy in justice. The goal is that by the end of this year, between 18 and 20 units will be opened, reaching the mark of 50 stores in 2024. The movement takes place after the spraying of the old appliance network that was spread across the country with more than 400 points of sale and which, at its peak, earned around 10 billion reais a year and employed 30,000 people — today, there are around 100 employees. “We are refounding the company. We have already opened two and we are going to open three more stores this April”, says the company's CEO, Pedro Bianchi. All stores planned for 2023 will be in Minas Gerais.
The expansion of the new network will be supported by the release of values that had been pledged by the Justice and through the sale of assets. Bianchi complains about the rise in credit due to the high level of interest in the country, with the Selic at 13.75% per year. “I think the Central Bank is making a mistake on the issue of interest rates. There is no reason for us to have the highest interest rates in the world. Inflation is not demand. These high interest rates are severely punishing retailers, who live on credit”, he says. “The theme of [accounting fraud by] Americanas was negative for everyone, because today banks are afraid to give credit to retailers. It was bad for everyone”, he laments, before saying that he hopes for the competitor’s recovery.
The executive says that the company's debt is currently estimated at around 3 billion reais. He is also negotiating with the Attorney General of the National Treasury to settle a liability of more than 1.2 billion reais. “It's a complex negotiation, because it involves the payment of money and company assets, but I want to settle all these liabilities. It wasn't me who incurred this debt, but I want to settle it", says Bianchi, who entered into the operation after the purchase of Máquina de Vendas by the private equity Starboard, in 2019.
The executive says that after the company's bankruptcy filing, in 2020, he began to be "bombarded" with lawsuits that affected his individual, but claims that he is not thinking of giving up the operation. “I had to tighten my belt a lot, including in my personal life, I had to make several adjustments in my life. I am suffering a lot of labor lawsuits that are not even my responsibility. How can I, as an administrator, have the head and focus to solve the company's problems if I'm being bombarded in the individual too?”, he vents. “But I keep fighting. The company will only go bankrupt if management gives up.”
The new identity, says Bianchi, is an attempt to give the brand a more “collective” feel. “We want to remove this image that the company was one person and give it that collective air”, he says. The main reason, however, would not be that.
The foundation of the new brand is an opportunity to break away from the image of its former owner, businessman Ricardo Nunes, who sold his stake in the former conglomerate in 2019. Founder of Ricardo Eletro, Nunes was convicted of active corruption in 2011, for paying bribes to a Federal Revenue auditor, and was arrested alongside his daughter, in 2020, on charges of evading 400 million reais in taxes - he spent a day in prison and was released after giving testimony. In 2022, the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais made another complaint on suspicion of evasion of 86 million reais. Today, the entrepreneur gives courses and lectures on management, marketing and sales, and has more than 250,000 followers on his official Instagram profile.