EL CORTE INGLéS

'El Corte Inglés' (lit. ''The English Cut'', meaning ''The English Dressmaking'', because of its origin) is Spain's largest department store chain and owner of several associated businesses, such as supermarket chains Hipercor, Supercor and Opencor.

Contents

History

Offshoot Companies

Madrid Flagship Store

2006 Results

See also

External links

References

History

In 1934, the founder Ramón Areces bought a tailor's shop (which had opened in 1890) located on one of Madrid's most centric streets, the ''calle Preciados'', and constituted a limited company. In 1940 he turned it into the current corporation ''El Corte Inglés, S.A.'' Upon Areces' death in 1989, his nephew Isidoro Álvarez was named his successor and quickly became one of the most powerful men in Spain. In 1995 El Corte Inglés bought out its only serious competitor, Galerías Preciados, which had entered bankruptcy.
El Corte Inglés is seen by the Spanish as a symbol of their Culture. Many products and services in various local stores cater to the country's diverse regions.
Stores tend to be very large in size and offer a wide-range of products.
International expansion began in 2001 in Portugal, with a store in Lisbon, followed in 2006 with a store in Vila Nova de Gaia, near the city of Oporto. In the same year the company announced its first store outside Iberia which will be in Rome, Italy.

Offshoot Companies

Offshoots of El Corte Inglés include ''Viajes El Corte Inglés'' (travel agency), ''Hipercor'' (a chain of hypermarkets), ''Opencor'' (upmarket convenience stores) ''Supercor'' (supermarkets), ''Informática El Corte Inglés'' (IT services), ''Sfera'' (competitor of the Zara (clothing) chain), and ''Bricor'', a chain of DIY stores.

Madrid Flagship Store

The primary flagship store for the chain is located in Madrid at Villaverde 79. It encompasses several buildings and carries the most comprehensive collection of designers of any large store in Spain. Designer boutiques in this store include: James Purdey and Sons,Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Armani, Gucci, Loewe, Bulgari, Dior, Dior Homme, Georges Rech, Hugo Boss, Boss Woman, Ermenegildo Zegna, Burberry (men/women), Façonnable, Pal Zileri, Paul & Shark, Lacoste, Pavillon Christofle, CH by Carolina Herrera, Escada Sport, Lloyd’s, Purificación Garcia, Caroll Paris, Amitie, Episode, store brands (Emidio Tucci,Dustin)
and many others.

2006 Results

For the fiscal year ended February 28 2006, group revenue grew 8,5% to nearly €15.9 billion. Net profit was up 6,82%, to €653.1 million All figures from ''Correio da Manhã'', August 28 2006 (in Portuguese) .

See also

★ European Retail Round Table

External links

★ El Corte Inglés online store (English)

★ Informática El Corte Inglés (Consulting & IT services)

★ El Corte Inglés history

★ El Corte Inglés Information

References