Grupo Comercial Chedraui posted consolidated net income of 1,825 million pesos in the second quarter of 2026, with its U.S. grocery banner division eking out a 20-basis-point EBITDA margin improvement to 8.5% despite same-store sales headwinds tied directly to reduced foot traffic in its core California and Texas markets.

The parent company, which operates El Super and related formats across the U.S. Sun Belt, said SSS in its American stores remained under pressure as stricter federal immigration enforcement trimmed transaction volumes — a trend that began late in Q2 2025 in California and mid-Q3 2025 in Texas, creating a difficult comparable-period stack heading into this year's results.

U.S. Operations Under Pressure

Even so, the U.S. division found margin expansion through operational discipline. CEO Antonio Chedraui credited cost efficiencies flowing from the Rancho Cucamonga Distribution Center (RCDC) in Southern California, along with broader organizational efficiencies, for the EBITDA lift. The company opened one new El Super store in the U.S. during the quarter — a cautious but continued commitment to the American market despite the macroeconomic friction. For operators tracking ethnic-grocery and value-format expansion in the western U.S., El Super's network remains one of the more closely watched in the segment.

On the Mexico side of the ledger, Chedraui's domestic banner posted same-store sales growth of 1.3% — beating the ANTAD self-service industry index, which contracted 0.1%, by 142 basis points. That marks the twenty-fourth consecutive quarter Chedraui Mexico has outpaced the ANTAD self-service benchmark. Mexico EBITDA margin held steady at 9.5%, essentially flat with Q2 2025, while the company opened 27 Supercito neighborhood-format stores and one full-size Chedraui hypermarket during the period.

Currency Drag and Balance Sheet

Consolidated EBITDA margin improved 15 basis points to 9.0% across both geographies, though the appreciation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar created a 9.7% headwind on reported results — a meaningful translation effect for a company that generates a substantial share of sales in dollars. Despite that drag, Chedraui ended the first half of 2026 in a net cash position, with a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of -0.09x versus -0.05x a year earlier, signaling the balance sheet has capacity for continued investment.

For U.S. convenience and grocery channel observers, Chedraui's situation illustrates a broader dynamic playing out across value-oriented foodservice and grocery formats that serve immigrant communities: demographic shifts driven by enforcement policy can move the needle on store-level traffic faster than pricing or assortment changes. Operators in adjacent segments — including c-stores with strong foodservice programs serving Hispanic shoppers — are watching the same traffic patterns in similar trade areas.

Chedraui's consolidated sales floor expanded 3.0% over the last twelve months, with Mexico alone growing 4.4%, underscoring that new-unit development remains on track even as same-store comps face macro pressures on both sides of the border. The company's full financial report and an investor conference call were scheduled for July 23, 2026. Investors tracking cross-border retail M&A and expansion in the grocery and convenience space will find Chedraui's U.S. footprint among the more instructive case studies in the current environment.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.