The accomplishments of both of the companies we visited yesterday were amazing but accomplished in very different ways:
D&S built their company from nothing to the leading grocery chain in all of Chile. They have expanded rapidly through a great understanding of their customer as well as an unapologetic attitutide about "borrowing" good ideas from their competition. While they may be a little optimistic over the small amout of influence that Walmart may have on their company in the long run, these are very smart businessmen. Walmart doesn't spend $1.5B on comapnies that aren't the best in their industry.
Crystal Lagoons followed a very different path, taking a very good idea which is simple to understand and appreciate the value (many of us had the "perfect spot" to put the next one) and turning into tremendous business potential. While the owner was the quintessential saleman selling the experience there was a also intellectual property, and financial models developed by him that was guarded closer than the recipe for Coke.
Both of these companies were home grown in Chile, based on the needs of the Chilean people and will likely be very different companies in the next few years. A very interesting study would be to research both down the road.