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Colombia: D1 continues to be the leader of Colombian retail

Discount Retail Chain D1 confirmed in 2025 once again their structural growth within the Colombian retail commerce. According to information released by the economic portal Primera Página, the company reached sales of Colombian Peso $21.56 billion, which represents a growth of 11.1% compared to 2024 and consolidates it as the largest retailer in the country in terms of local turnover. This performance is based on a large-scale operation that today totals 2,745 stores distributed over 550 municipalities, reflecting a clear strategy of territorial expansion and proximity to the consumer. In an economic context marked by more rational consumers in spending, high price sensitivity and greater frequency of purchases in proximity channels, D1 continues to capture market share thanks to a proposal based on competitive price, efficient assortment and a highly optimized logistics network.


D1's growth is also explained by observing the evolution of its revenues over the last decade. Between 2016 and 2025, D1's sales went from COP$2.13 billion to COP$21.56 billion, increasing tenfold in less than ten years. The trajectory shows particularly accelerated expansion rates between 2019 and 2022, a period in which the hard discount format consolidated its penetration in Colombian households. In 2020, for example, turnover reached $7.36 billion, growing 47.9%, while in 2022 it exceeded COP$13.9 billion, with an increase of close to 40%. This behavior reflects the consolidation of the hard discount model, introduced in Colombia with the arrival of D1 in 2011, based on an efficient cost structure, limited assortments – between 700 and 1,200 SKUs compared to the more than 10,000 of a traditional supermarket – and a determining weight of own brands, which can represent between 80% and 90% of sales. Added to this is a constant geographical expansion that has allowed the format to be taken to intermediate cities and municipalities where there was no modern retail offer before.


Behind this growth is also the business strategy of Valórem, the Colombian holding company of the Santo Domingo family that controls 60.2% of Tiendas D1. The history of this business group explains part of the strategic logic that has allowed the development of D1. Since the end of the 1990s, after the spin-off of Bavaria and the creation of Valores Bavaria (now Valórem), the group began a process of reorganising its business portfolio. Throughout the 2000s, there was a progressive renunciation of non-strategic businesses, concentrating capital and management in sectors where the group could build sustainable competitive advantages such as retail, media, entertainment, energy and real estate. Today the portfolio includes companies such as Cine Colombia, El Espectador, Blu Radio, Refocosta, Ditransa, Gases del Caribe and Tiendas D1, among others. In 2024, the group's companies recorded revenues of COP$24.46 billion, of which D1 contributed about 79%, confirming that the chain became the main economic engine of the holding.


D1's recent performance also demonstrates the relevance of corporate governance and strategic discipline in building long-term companies. In 2025, the company recorded a net profit of COP$419 million, which represented a growth of 42.2% compared to 2024, accompanied by an increase of close to 24% in operating income. These results show that the model not only generates scale in sales, but also operational efficiency. The business history behind it – from the consolidation of the Santo Domingo Group in Bavaria, its subsequent corporate reorganization and the construction of an investment holding company – leaves a clear lesson for the business world: strategic focus decisions, discipline in capital allocation and solid corporate governance are determining factors in creating companies that transform entire industries.


In the case of D1, this combination allowed not only to lead the hard discount market, but also to redefine the competitive map of Colombian retail.


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