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Shopping Centers Today -> May 2004
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BRAZIL’S CARVALHO TURNS ANCAR REINS OVER TO SON
BY DONNA MITCHELL
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| Sergio Andrade de Carvalho, seated, with (left to right) son Marcos, nephew Ricardo Carvalho, son Marcelo and daughter Mariana Carvalho. |
Marcos takes over as president of Ancar Empreendimentos, parent company of Ancar S.A., which has developed and managed the country’s leading shopping centers for more than 30 years. Established in 1972, Ancar has developed five shopping centers in Brazil, including two standout projects. The first is Shopping Nova América, Rio de Janeiro, a 450,000-square-foot enclosed regional mall that won a MAXI Award in 1997 for community service and a second MAXI in 2003 for center productivity. The second is the enclosed, 370,000-square-foot Shopping Iguatemi, in Porto Alegre, the largest city in southern Brazil. The upscale Shopping Iguatemi was the first shopping center built in the southern region.
The Carvalho family has also been active in promoting the industry in Brazil, both through ICSC and through the Associação Brasileira de Shopping Centers, the Brazilian association of shopping centers known as ABRASCE.
Sergio started out as a commercial banker; the Carvalhos owned Rio de Janeiro-based Banco Andrade Arnaud before turning to shopping centers in the early ’70s, when retail property development was a nascent industry in Brazil.
“We didn’t understand anything about shopping centers,” said Sergio, “so it was almost like blind flight.”
Sergio says he picked up development strategies and other knowledge by attending ICSC functions and mingling with some of the industry’s important people. In 1976 Ancar helped found ABRASCE to provide the same service for Brazil’s retail developers.
The Carvalhos sold Banco Andrade in 1972 to Banco Hales (which was eventually incorporated into Banco Itaú, Brazil’s third-largest bank). The family then dedicated itself to its new business and the growth of the Brazilian retail real estate industry overall. In 2000 it spun off the third-party management operation, Ancar Gestao, as a separate firm. Together with four of its own properties (Ancar sold one of its original five), Ancar Gestão manages six properties in Brazil.
Brother Marcelo succeeds Marcos as president of Ancar Gestão. Sergio remains chairman of Ancar’s board, which overseas both units.
Marcos began his career as an investment banker, but went to work for Ancar in 1995. Along with Marcelo and sister Mariana, he learned the ropes of shopping center management and development in a training program at General Growth Properties.
In the spirit of further promoting education in the industry, Marcos founded the Friedman Group in 1990, a retail management training company dedicated to raising the professional standards of tenants.
In years to come, Ancar will employ relationships with international companies to spur its own growth, says Marcos. Ancar recently joined up with New York City-based consumer research firm Whitaker International, to form Whitaker Brazil, a retail consulting and services firm, to study the behavior, lifestyle and tastes of shoppers in various markets.
Sergio Carvalho will be active in philanthropic work, enlisting the support of wealthy families and Brazilian institutions in the fight against poverty and its related social problems.
 | Current Issue November 2008 |