El Corte Inglés
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El Corte Inglés (lit. The English Cut, meaning The English Dressmaking, because of its origin) is Spain's largest department store chain. 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.
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 as announced expansion over Spain: the first city will be Rome, Italy.
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 to debut in 2006.
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: Louis Vuitton, Cartier, 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.
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[edit] 2006 Results
For the fiscal year ended February 28, 2006, group revenue grew 8,5% to nearly 15.9 billion euro. Net profit was up 6,82%, to 653.1 million euro[1].
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- El Corte Inglés online store (English)
- Informática El Corte Inglés (Consulting & IT services)
- El Corte Inglés history
[edit] References
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Mobile phone companies of Spain | ||
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| movistar | Orange | Vodafone | Yoigo | |||
| Mobile Virtual Network Operators: Euskaltel | Carrefour Móvil | Happy Móvil | Telecor (El Corte Inglés) |
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