The name of El Corte Ingles It had its origin more than 100 years ago and comes from a small tailor shop that was founded in the 1890th century, exactly in 1935 in Madrid. In 45, XNUMX years after its opening, it was bought by Ramón Areces Rodríguez, thus beginning its business history.
From several years of evolution and growth of the store which went from being a small tailor shop to a department store in constant update and growth, which has its own brands of the English court the arrival of the sixties was key to El Corte Ingles, since it was in those years when it began its expansion throughout the national territory, all this thanks to the inauguration of centers in important cities such as Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao and others.
In the mid-90s, a growth and diversification phase of the Group, going through modifications in the position of the presidency of the group due to the death of the original president but not representing a stop in its growth, on the contrary, seeking to be stronger every day.
Within this diversification, the department store division of The English Court, They have one main area for conducting their most successful businesses: Fashion.
This main area of El Corte Ingles, has allowed the company to generate in the last year a great income that reached sales of 8.441,5 million euros, which represents 59% of the company's total income.
It is precisely in the area of fashion where, in recent years, the great changes in commercial strategy introduced by El Corte Ingles. In October 2013, the company launched the campaign Premiere the new, which announces a general reduction in fashion prices and focuses on the company's own brands.
With this movement, the company has tried to revitalize fashion sales, affected by the drop in consumption in Spain and by a buyer looking for better prices
What is it?
El Cutting English it's a crescent portfolio of own brands with which it is sought to compete against the current fashion giants in the world.
This type of vertical chains have transformed the way in which fashion is consumed, not only in Spain, but throughout the world.
To cope with all this, department stores resort to using a diversified range of brands from all segments, specializing in luxury or price.
In Spain, which is a country where large distribution dominated by giants such as Inditex, Mango o Cortefiel; El Corte Ingles It has the ability to compete in fashion with the most exclusive luxury brands, but in the same way, it has a large portfolio of its own brands with which it approaches the bulk of consumers.
Year after year, the group of department stores increases and strengthens its range of own brand offerings with new launches, while expanding its closest approach to large distribution in international markets, which is Sphere.
What does El Corte Inglés offer?
El Corte Ingles has a portfolio of more than twenty-five own brands, with which it seeks to attract the male, female and children's public through all kinds of products that can be from footwear and accessories to textile fashion. The company incorporates new own brands to its portfolio every year, to mention just two years:
- In 2012 he opted for casual and children's fashion with Southern Cotton and Free Style.
- In 2013 it launched the Jo & Mr Joe line, this line is specialized in men's bags, thus exploiting and taking advantage of the development of fashion consumption by the male public.
If we focus on the area of women's fashion, the company The English Court operates with lines like
- Zendra, Easy Wear
- Synthesis
- Southern cotton
- Amitie, Year
- Tintoretto
- Lloyd's
- Young Formula
- Studio classics
- Green coast
- Essentials
- Emphasis
Among the women's fashion brands, Gloria Ortiz and Elogy stand out, the latter being launched in collaboration with the designer Juanjo Oliva.
For men, El Corte Ingles has lines like
- Emidio tucci
- Dustin
- hominem
For the children's fashion area, El Corte Ingles operates with
- chalks
- Outbreaks
- bass10
- Dessert
- Freestyle
- Stop
- CottonJuice.
In the same way that new brands appear, they also disappear. Another of the cases in which a line has been canceled has been that of Gals & Guys, which El Corte Ingles launched in 2011 in full tree in Spain of the Abercrombie & Fitch phenomenon and that it canceled at the end of 2012. In shoe stores, lines such as Renoir have disappeared.
All these brands are distributed both through the group's department stores and through specific fashion outlets.
In past years, lines such as Síntesis only had specific stores, but now the group has deployed a network of establishments focused on high-end fashion, which are complemented by others specialized in certain categories, as in the case of lingerie.
Sphere
Sphere It was created with the aim of dealing with large fashion retailers, but had to reform its offering and strategy to find profitability.
The good economic figures that this brand has given to El Cutting English coincide with the bet of the same to grow with Sphere outside the Spanish market.
The company has established and developed a plan with which it seeks to launch a second phase of international development focused on Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. Sphere It has also managed to reach markets such as Switzerland.
With which it now seeks to improve its own development strategy outside of Spain, to be able to compete globally with other rivals such as Marks & Spencer.
New arrivals
This group of department stores seeks a way to give a new push to its own brands, with this it prepares the relaunch of Gloria Ortiz, which will enter textiles becoming a brand of total look. At the same time the company would be carrying out a reorganization of the brands in its women's fashion plants.
With this relaunch, the brand will make the leap beyond footwear and accessories. With the entry into textile of Gloria Ortiz One can think of the consolidation of other women's own brands from El Corte Inglesas Sendra o And was.
The woman is the public that moves the fashion sales of the El Corte Ingles. The data of the Business Association of Textile and Accessories Trade (Acotex) demonstrate it, the female public in 2015 generated 37,2% of total fashion sales in Spain, the male audience represented 32,1% of the total business and the boy, 13,2%.
For the fiscal year closed in February 2015, El Corte Ingles it had a turnover of 4.305 million euros thanks to fashion, accessories, beauty and jewelry.
That figure represented 51,5% of the group's total business. In the twelve months prior to that measurement, sales of fashion, accessories, beauty and jewelry from El Corte Ingles they rose 11,6%.
Hand in hand with the commitment to own brands, El Cutting English It is also reorganizing the external brands present in its women's fashion plants. These movements respond both to the group's commitment to incorporating new firms and to the departure of others.
In recent years, El Corte Ingles has carried out a large number of movements in its strategy for the fashion sector, the company has tried to compete against the large distribution chains by betting, first, on the launch of Sphere and later with the signing of executives from companies such as Inditex, who were in charge of launching campaigns such as Premiere the new, with which the group of department stores lowered its prices in fashion.
What else can we know about the English court brands
This important group has focused in recent years on increasing its portfolio of fashion brands, betting on both mass consumption and luxury. Similarly, the company has set up specialized centers for men and women that offer high-end products.
All the Own brands of the English Court They are the reflection of the strategy of these stores to offer fashionable clothes for the whole family at lower prices than those of big and famous brands.
El Corte Ingles It already has a very interesting portfolio of its own brands and represents a widely successful and growing business model that seeks to surpass itself and its competitors through striking and effective campaigns that demonstrate full knowledge of the public to whom it directs them. I take into account the needs and demands of the sectors to which I offer, even if they are even at opposite ends of the market.