So we’re not feeling the pressure as much as the rest of the market because the volume of commodity products is offsetting the deflation rates that we are experiencing now. Having said that, we have seen a slowdown in the deflation process. We believe it will continue at least in the first half of 2024, but there are already some categories that have been experiencing some price stagnation, especially in the butcher department, so a reduction of the drops we have been seen in recent months and quarters. However, when you go to the Extra market brand stores, it’s a different strategy, a different type of customer and a different value proposition and assortment plan. Here, we’re working on having the right product with the right price. So we want to offer a great cost-benefit ratio to customers here.
We continue focusing on the presence of perishables as a whole in the sector. And in specific categories and products, we’re working on our value perception when it comes to pricing. It’s worth highlighting that in spite of this huge challenge, our operations team has been working hard on store productivity for Extra market stores, which enabled us to grow and to improve the profitability of the brand in spite of the deflation challenges that we have been facing. When it comes to the Pão de Açúcar format in expansion, we should be cautious, Irma. And it’s not a matter of having enough money or not, but we want to focus on our business model. One of the things we learned was that it’s no use just opening a store in a location that seems to be good.
We have improved our Pão de Açúcar expansion process last year and this year with stores being opened with sales that are at least 50% above the average of recent years, of recent waves because we’re not just opening stores anywhere. Pão de Açúcar already has the best real estate, especially in the city of Sao Paulo. And we have to be very careful when choosing the location and defining the ideal assortment, the neighborhoods. We want to be based in the responses we want to give to the needs of that neighborhood or that city. An example of the success of this strategy was the opening of the store in Atibaia. We opened the store, and we achieved the targets for the whole year right away. So this shows the hard work of our expansion team and all of the other teams that have been providing support to this project.
So yes, we want to open new stores. But for the Pão de Açúcar brand, we believe that we need to focus on refining the opportunities, so with a lower volume of stores. On the other hand, we see a great opportunity to continue growing and expanding in the Pão de Açúcar brand in the city of Sao Paulo.
Rafael Russowsky: Let me just add something to this, Irma. I believe Marcelo covered the main points regarding our strategy to define whether we will open new stores or not. But an important point is that, in the new Pão de Açúcar stores, we have chosen a build-to-suit strategy. So the CapEx that is used for opening a new store is invested by the landowner. This is actually a joint action. This has been our choice for now, so we don’t have that balance sheet pressure that you mentioned to continue advancing in our expansion of the Pão de Açúcar full format. We have the space. We’re opening new stores because of the rigorous analysis that we have been carrying out to choose the new sites, locations, assortment and then open the new stores.
Operator: Our next question is by sell-side analyst from [indiscernible].
Unidentified Analyst: My question is about that level of 5.8% that you mentioned in your report. So when do you expect to reach the end of those projects? And what about working capital? You said 45 days of stock and 54 for suppliers. Can you give us more color about the projects to reduce out-of-stock problems in the different brands?
