Lojas Quero-Quero S.A. is a Brazilian retail company founded on August 15, 1967, in the city of Santo Cristo, in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul, originally under the name Quero-Quero Comércio e Representações Ltda. The business began with a focus on agricultural implements and veterinary products, taking advantage of the economic dynamism of Rio Grande do Sul’s agribusiness at the time. Over the course of the 1970s, the company expanded its portfolio to hardware, tools and construction materials, which gradually became the core of its operations. In the following decade, it began opening branches in neighboring cities, consolidating its presence in the northwestern region of the state and temporarily diversifying into the food retail business. In 1981, the retail of construction materials, furniture and home appliances was formally incorporated into its corporate purpose, marking the transition to the home improvement store format that characterizes its current operations.

The company’s corporate transformation took place in 1988, when it changed from a limited liability company to a corporation, adopting the name Quero-Quero S.A., later updated to Lojas Quero-Quero S.A. in 2006. In the 1990s, the chain surpassed the mark of 50 stores, expanded into Santa Catarina, and added financial services to its business model, such as consortiums and in-house financing. In 1997, the subsidiary Quero-Quero VerdeCard Instituição de Pagamento S.A. was created, linked to the credit card operation with its own brand, VerdeCard, which evolved from an internal financing instrument for purchases in the stores to a payment method accepted at affiliated establishments. In 2002, Sentinela dos Pampas Administradora e Corretora de Seguros Ltda. was created, responsible for brokering insurance linked to retail sales. In 2008, private equity funds managed by affiliates of Advent International took control of the company, driving the professionalization of governance and management. In 2020, Lojas Quero-Quero carried out its IPO, began trading common shares on B3 under the ticker LJQQ3, was listed on the Novo Mercado segment, and completed Advent’s exit from the shareholder base.

Lojas Quero-Quero’s business model combines multi-format physical retail, digital channels and the offering of financial services, with a focus on small and medium-sized cities. The company reports a single operating segment, organized into three business activities: Retail, Financial Services and Credit Card. In 2024, retail accounted for 71% of gross revenue net of returns and discounts, while financial services represented 26% and the credit card activity, 3%. The retail line is structured in three main channels: physical stores, e-commerce and the Figital platform, which includes the “Loja Infinita”, a virtual showroom that expands the assortment available in the units. From a portfolio originally concentrated in construction materials, the company also began selling home appliances, furniture, décor items, organization products and lifestyle goods, seeking to capture different stages of the construction, renovation and furnishing cycle of properties.

In construction materials retail, Lojas Quero-Quero operates in departments such as floor and wall coverings, finishes, raw and basic materials, equipment, openings, forest and garden, and paints, offering everything from structural items to finishing products. In home appliances, the offering includes white goods, brown goods, small appliances, technology, automotive and phones, while in furniture the company sells products for kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, offices, service areas and leisure areas. In décor, organization and lifestyle, the assortment includes bed, table and bath, housewares, sports and leisure items, children’s products, décor items and cleaning and organization products. Construction materials is the most relevant activity within the company’s retail business, representing 64% of tickets sold in 2024, considering the number of sales orders for products in this segment. In-store service is predominantly assisted, with teams of sales consultants trained to guide the purchasing process, including construction professionals, who make up an important share of the customer base.

Lojas Quero-Quero’s geographic presence is concentrated in the South region of Brazil and in some states in the Center-West and Southeast. On December 31, 2024, the company operated 573 stores in 483 different cities, distributed across Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo. The network is predominantly geared toward municipalities of up to 300,000 inhabitants, which account for 96% of the stores. Of this total, 312 units were in cities with up to 25,000 inhabitants, 99 in locations with populations between 25,000 and 50,000, 73 between 50,000 and 100,000, 65 between 100,000 and 300,000 inhabitants and 24 in cities with more than 300,000 inhabitants. The company has also invested in expanding and modernizing its logistics infrastructure, with three distribution centers located in Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná, totaling more than 85,000 m² of storage area, in addition to 19 regional depots that optimize inventories and deliveries. Store openings followed an accelerated pace from 2017, allowing the network to almost double in size between 2016 and 2023, supported by investments in distribution centers and by the launch of e-commerce in 2019.

Lojas Quero-Quero’s financial services area was developed to complement the retail operation, offering direct-to-consumer credit, personal loans, invoice installment plans, revolving credit, debt renegotiation and receivables anticipation for accredited merchants. These products are structured mainly through partnerships with credit, financing and investment companies, currently represented by Via Certa Financiadora S.A., in a results-sharing model in which revenues, costs, taxes and provisions for doubtful accounts are divided according to specific contracts. The company maintains its own credit analysis and collection structures, which operate within parameters defined together with the partner financial institutions. In parallel, through the Sentinela dos Pampas brokerage, it distributes extended warranty, financial protection, daily hospital stay, and mobile phone theft, robbery and damage insurance, as well as home insurance and products aimed at protecting banking transactions, in partnership with insurers such as Assurant, Sancor, Sura and Generali, being remunerated for distribution without taking on insurance risk.

The credit card activity is centralized in the VerdeCard operation, which functions both as a payment instrument and a distribution channel for financial products. In addition to financing purchases at Lojas Quero-Quero, the card is accepted at a network of accredited establishments, using infrastructure from acquirers such as Cielo, Stone and Banrisul Vero, which act as network service providers, while processing and settlement are carried out by Verde itself. The company uses its own capital to finance interest-free transactions, being remunerated by annual fees, the discount rate received as an acquirer, the interchange fee and the service fee. With its expansion into new states, Lojas Quero-Quero entered into a partnership with the Elo brand to issue cards with broader acceptance outside its own network, and as of 2022 it began issuing VerdeCard cards with the Elo brand in all regions. The card app evolved into the Quero-Quero PAG platform, incorporating a digital account and integration with PIX, expanding the payment features available to cardholders.

Lojas Quero-Quero operates in a regulatory environment typical of retail and financial services, subject to consumer protection regulations that require clear information on the characteristics, prices, risks and conditions of products and services. In the financial and payments segment, the VerdeCard subsidiary has operated as a payment institution authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil in the acquirer and postpaid instrument issuer modalities since 2021, while the insurance brokerage is subject to insurance sector regulation and supervision. The company also highlights sustainability and governance initiatives, such as the inauguration of six photovoltaic power plants in 2023, with installed capacity of 7.9 MWp and potential to reduce CO₂ emissions by more than 1,500 tons per year, as well as the adoption of TCFD recommendations in its sustainability report. In 2024, upon completing 57 years of operations and having LJQQ3 common shares traded on B3, the company also reported operational and social responses to the floods in Rio Grande do Sul, reinforcing the integration of its activities with the communities in which it maintains a physical and economic presence.