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El Corte Inglés
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El Corte Inglés
El Corte Inglés S.A. is a Spanish department store chain founded in 1940 by Ramón Areces and César Rodríguez. It is the last such remaining in Spain and Portugal, and has been a member of the International Association of Department Stores since 1998. It is the largest department store group in Europe, and the third-largest in the world.
In 1934, the founders Ramón Areces Rodriguez and Cesar Rodriguez Gonzalez bought a tailor's shop (which began in 1890) located on one of Madrid's central streets, calle Preciados, at the corner of calle Carmen and calle Rompelanzas. They made it into a limited company. The property where the shop was located had been owned by Julián Gordo Centenera since 1930. The prime location of the property soon attracted the attention of an Asturian businessman, Pepin Fernandez, who was looking to expand a business called Sederias Carretas which he had started in 1934 with a capital contribution from his cousin Cesar Rodriguez Gonzales. His plan was to purchase all of the properties on the block to construct a new building to house his business, a vision which was later realized in the form of Galerias Preciados.
Around 1920, at 15, Areces had gone to Havana, Cuba, and worked at the famous retail chain Almacenes El Encanto, where he learned the basics of department store business. Cesar Rodriguez had asked Pepin Fernandez to hire his nephew Ramon Areces in Sederias Carretas shortly after his return from Cuba. Pepin refused, so Cesar requested that he at least allow Ramon to operate El Corte Inglés while plans to acquire the block and construct the new building were finalized. Pepin, who had also learned the department store business at Almacenes El Encanto, accepted the request, and transferred ownership of El Corte Inglés to Cesar on 23 December 1935, and acquired the property where it was located on behalf of Sederias Carretas soon after. Once Cesar took ownership of El Corte Inglés, he designated Ramon Areces as manager, a position which he held until his death, including during the Spanish civil war.
When the war ended in 1939, El Corte Inglés moved to calle Preciados, on the corner of calle Tetuan, near the location of Almacenes el Aguila, to make way for the new Galerias Preciados building. In 1940, Areces turned the tailor's shop into a sociedad limitada, registering with 1 million pesetas of capital and shares divided equally between Cesar Rodriguez, who became the first president of El Corte Inglés S.L., and Ramon Areces, whose share of the capital contribution came from a loan facilitated by his uncle. As the business expanded, eventually Cesar Rodriguez became the majority shareholder, although Areces remained in charge of strategic decisions and the day-to-day operations of the business.
In 1945 and 1946, El Corte Inglés acquired its new building and expanded to encompass 2,000 square meters of retail space on 5 floors, and shifted to a department store organizational style similar to that of Galerias Preciados, which had been operational since 1943. The company saw continuous growth until 1952, when it converted its legal structure from a sociedad limitada to a sociedad anónima in which Cesar Rodriguez remained president and majority shareholder, a position which he held until his death in 1966. After this, Ramon Areces, who until then had been managing director, became the president and largest shareholder.
The competition between El Corte Inglés and Galerias Preciados in the 1950s and 60's caused a revolution in Spanish retail distribution. Seasonal discounts, organized ad campaigns, air conditioned stores, massive use of publicity, large scale use of display windows, customer loyalty cards, point of sale data collection, and more. The expansion of El Corte Inglés began in 1962 with the opening of its second department store in Barcelona, and expansion continues until the present. Expansion also diversified into other formats including Hipercor, first introduced in Seville in 1980. In 1969, the company started to branch out of the retail sector, first opening a travel agency, Viajes El Corte Inglés, in 1969, followed by a telecom and computing equipment wholesaler, Investronica, in 1980, and an IT services and software development company, Informática El Corte Inglés (IECISA), in 1986.
After Areces died in 1989, his nephew Isidoro Álvarez became his successor and continued to expand the business while emphasizing self-reliant financing methods, opaque management techniques, and careful investment. In 1995, El Corte Inglés bought out Galerías Preciados, which was its only serious competitor. Galerias Preciados had entered bankruptcy. In addition to acquiring its arch-rival, El Corte Inglés purchased all of the Marks & Spencer stores in the Iberian peninsula in 2001.
El Corte Inglés entered into a partnership with Repsol in 1998, through which El Corte Inglés would operate convenience stores at Repsol fuel stations. These stores were initially known as Repsol-Supercor, or Repsol-Opencor after 2008, while those not attached to fuel stations were called Opencor. In 2001, El Corte Inglés opened a retail fashion outlet called Sfera. Its first big-box store, Bricor, specializing in home decor and DIY supplies, opened in 2006.
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El Corte Inglés
El Corte Inglés S.A. is a Spanish department store chain founded in 1940 by Ramón Areces and César Rodríguez. It is the last such remaining in Spain and Portugal, and has been a member of the International Association of Department Stores since 1998. It is the largest department store group in Europe, and the third-largest in the world.
In 1934, the founders Ramón Areces Rodriguez and Cesar Rodriguez Gonzalez bought a tailor's shop (which began in 1890) located on one of Madrid's central streets, calle Preciados, at the corner of calle Carmen and calle Rompelanzas. They made it into a limited company. The property where the shop was located had been owned by Julián Gordo Centenera since 1930. The prime location of the property soon attracted the attention of an Asturian businessman, Pepin Fernandez, who was looking to expand a business called Sederias Carretas which he had started in 1934 with a capital contribution from his cousin Cesar Rodriguez Gonzales. His plan was to purchase all of the properties on the block to construct a new building to house his business, a vision which was later realized in the form of Galerias Preciados.
Around 1920, at 15, Areces had gone to Havana, Cuba, and worked at the famous retail chain Almacenes El Encanto, where he learned the basics of department store business. Cesar Rodriguez had asked Pepin Fernandez to hire his nephew Ramon Areces in Sederias Carretas shortly after his return from Cuba. Pepin refused, so Cesar requested that he at least allow Ramon to operate El Corte Inglés while plans to acquire the block and construct the new building were finalized. Pepin, who had also learned the department store business at Almacenes El Encanto, accepted the request, and transferred ownership of El Corte Inglés to Cesar on 23 December 1935, and acquired the property where it was located on behalf of Sederias Carretas soon after. Once Cesar took ownership of El Corte Inglés, he designated Ramon Areces as manager, a position which he held until his death, including during the Spanish civil war.
When the war ended in 1939, El Corte Inglés moved to calle Preciados, on the corner of calle Tetuan, near the location of Almacenes el Aguila, to make way for the new Galerias Preciados building. In 1940, Areces turned the tailor's shop into a sociedad limitada, registering with 1 million pesetas of capital and shares divided equally between Cesar Rodriguez, who became the first president of El Corte Inglés S.L., and Ramon Areces, whose share of the capital contribution came from a loan facilitated by his uncle. As the business expanded, eventually Cesar Rodriguez became the majority shareholder, although Areces remained in charge of strategic decisions and the day-to-day operations of the business.
In 1945 and 1946, El Corte Inglés acquired its new building and expanded to encompass 2,000 square meters of retail space on 5 floors, and shifted to a department store organizational style similar to that of Galerias Preciados, which had been operational since 1943. The company saw continuous growth until 1952, when it converted its legal structure from a sociedad limitada to a sociedad anónima in which Cesar Rodriguez remained president and majority shareholder, a position which he held until his death in 1966. After this, Ramon Areces, who until then had been managing director, became the president and largest shareholder.
The competition between El Corte Inglés and Galerias Preciados in the 1950s and 60's caused a revolution in Spanish retail distribution. Seasonal discounts, organized ad campaigns, air conditioned stores, massive use of publicity, large scale use of display windows, customer loyalty cards, point of sale data collection, and more. The expansion of El Corte Inglés began in 1962 with the opening of its second department store in Barcelona, and expansion continues until the present. Expansion also diversified into other formats including Hipercor, first introduced in Seville in 1980. In 1969, the company started to branch out of the retail sector, first opening a travel agency, Viajes El Corte Inglés, in 1969, followed by a telecom and computing equipment wholesaler, Investronica, in 1980, and an IT services and software development company, Informática El Corte Inglés (IECISA), in 1986.
After Areces died in 1989, his nephew Isidoro Álvarez became his successor and continued to expand the business while emphasizing self-reliant financing methods, opaque management techniques, and careful investment. In 1995, El Corte Inglés bought out Galerías Preciados, which was its only serious competitor. Galerias Preciados had entered bankruptcy. In addition to acquiring its arch-rival, El Corte Inglés purchased all of the Marks & Spencer stores in the Iberian peninsula in 2001.
El Corte Inglés entered into a partnership with Repsol in 1998, through which El Corte Inglés would operate convenience stores at Repsol fuel stations. These stores were initially known as Repsol-Supercor, or Repsol-Opencor after 2008, while those not attached to fuel stations were called Opencor. In 2001, El Corte Inglés opened a retail fashion outlet called Sfera. Its first big-box store, Bricor, specializing in home decor and DIY supplies, opened in 2006.
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