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 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. Next opening will be in 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.

[edit] 2006 results

For the fiscal year ended February 28, 2006, group revenue grew 8,5% to 15,855,000,000 euro. Net profit was up 6,82%, to 653,140,000 euro^[1].

[edit] External links

• El Corte Inglés online store (English)
• Informática El Corte Inglés (Consulting & IT services)
• El Corte Inglés history

[edit] References