Mall of America is one of the top tourist destinations in the country and is known around the world. Each year, 40 million people from around the world visit the mall. However, if you are someone who loves shopping and are in Madrid, Spain, El Corte Ingles is the place to be. El Corte Ingles, Spanish for “the English cut”, headquartered in Madrid, is the biggest department store in Europe and ranks third worldwide. El Corte Ingles is Spain’s only remaining department store chain.
El Corte Ingles History
El Corte Ingles took its name form a small tailor shop founded in 1890, located between Calle Preciados, Calle Carmen, and Calle Rompelanzas in Madrid. Inn 1935, Ramon Areces Rodriguez, backed by his uncle, Cesar Rodriguez, bought the tailor shop and started his business venture. In 1939, they acquired premises at Calle Preciados 3, Madrid, earmarking the ground floor, first floor, and part of the second floor for sales. In June 1940, when the business had seven employees, Ramon Areces constituted the company El Corte Ingles, with his uncle Cesar Rodriguez as partner and chairman of the company.
Between 1945 and 1946, the first compete refurbishment of the building took place, resulting in total sales area of 2,000 meters squared distributed over five floors. The adjacent building, Preciado 5, was incorporated between 1953 and 1955. Over time, successive expansions and modifications were made in order to offer a more modern image in accordance with the demands of society.
Company Information
According to their company website, as of 2017, the company has 92,078 employees . Customer traffic is really high as they have received 700 hundred million plus visits. Similar to American retail stores, El Corte Ingles has their own credit card and as of 2017, there were 11,518 million people that had one. El Corte Ingles has ninety-four locations worldwide.
El Corte Ingles Products
People that have never been to El Corte Ingles do not have to worry about the store being low on product as they have a lot to offer. The company offers clothing, shoes, and accessories for men, women, kids, and babies; sports products and accessories; fabrics; watches; lingerie and swim wear; and beach accessories. It also provides home and decoration products including canned food, oil and sauces, hams and cold meats, sweets, appetizers and snacks, ready meals, drinks, wines and spirits. The company sells its products through departmental stores and online.
Questions for El Corte Ingles Site Visit
- What does El Corte Ingles feel it currently needs to improve?
- What do they think is so unique about their store that allows them to dominate Europe?
- What time of the year is El Corte Ingles most busy?
- What is the working environment like at El Corte Ingles?
- What item(s) does El Corte Ingles make the most money off of?
2019 Spain IBUS 3033W 