Wal-Mart and other retailers are attempting to extend the holiday buying season by targeting Latino consumers celebrating Three Kings Day today.
The Christian holiday, also known as Epiphany, celebrates the three wise men who followed a star to Jesus’ birthplace. The holiday is a big gift-giving day in many Latino communities.
In Colorado, Wal-Mart ran TV, radio and print spots in Spanish publications and broadcast outlets. The retailer targeted Hispanics shopping at its stores in Avon, Commerce City, Aurora, Lakewood, Brighton, Greeley, Longmont, Thornton and Fort Collins, said Lorenzo Lopez, a Wal-Mart spokesman.
By 2010, the buying power of Latinos is expected to exceed $70 billion, said Tony Martinez, president of Kinetix Integrated Marketing, which specializes in the urban and Latino marketplaces.
“Everything boils down to dollars and cents,” Martinez said. “When retailers realized this is a holiday that Latinos celebrate that is the equivalent of Christmas, they realized the buying season is not over.”
