EL CORTE INGLÉS
WITH MORE THAN 80 YEARS OF HISTORY

1935 Ramón Areces Rodríguez

Ramón Areces Rodríguez bought a tailor shop founded in 1890 which is called El Corte Inglés.

1940 The company was established

Ramón Areces constituted the company El Corte Inglés, with his uncle César Rodríguez as a partner and first chairman of the company.

1945/1946 Refurbishment of the Preciados building

El Corte Inglés launched the new concept of a “gift voucher” for its Christmas campaign.

1960 Spring is already in El Corte Inglés

For the forst time, it was announced that “It is now spring at El Corte Inglés”.

1962 Expansion

El Corte Inglés began its expansion in the 1960s and opened establishments in Barcelona, Seville and Bilbao, as well as Madrid.

1966 Ramón Areces

Ramón Areces became the chairman of the company after the death of César Rodríguez.

El Corte Inglés Shopping Card

The El Corte Inglés purchasing card was created, a new payment concept to make it easier for its customers to make purchases.

1969 Viajes El Corte Inglés

The company Viajes El Corte Inglés was constituted offering a wide range of services, as well as organising events, conferences and conventions.

1976 Óptica 2000

Óptica 2000 opened, a new space dedicated to marketing products and professional services related to vision and hearing.

1979 Hipercor

Hipercor was created a new concept of a hypermarket with textiles, household goods, groceries, perishable goods and catering sections.

The Cursa El Corte Inglés

The Cursa El Corte Inglés, the most important race in Europe and one of the leading races in the world started in Barcelona. In 1994, it entered the Guinness Book of Records by having more than 109,000 registered participants.

1982 Correduría de Seguros

Seguros El Corte Inglés, the insurance broker of the El Corte Inglés Group, was constituted.

1985 Championship suits

The Spanish national football team starred in the advertising campaign for Emidio Tucci suits under the slogan “Championship suits”.

1988 The company Informática El Corte Ingles

Informática El Corte Inglés was created a company dedicated to designing, manufacturing and marketing computer products and a pioneer in developing personal computers.

1989 Isidoro Álvarez

Isidoro Álvarez became chairman of the Board of El Corte Inglés following the death of Ramón Areces. Álvarez, who is very knowledgeable about the business, began his career as an employee at El Corte Inglés while doing his university degree in Economic and Business Sciences. When he was 24, he was made a director of the company and, seven years later, managing director. Álvarez is the great architect of the development and expansion of the company.

1995 Galerías Preciados

El Corte Inglés acquired Galerías Preciados.

2000 Supercor

A new chain of supermarkets was launched, Supercor, offering quality and a wide choice of food, cleaning and perfumery products.

2001 International expansión

The first El Corte Inglés commercial establishment abroad was inaugurated in Lisbon, Portugal. In addition, five Carrefour hypermarkets and the nine Marks & Spencer centres in Spain were acquired.

2002 Sfera

Sfera was launched, a chain of stores specialising in fashion and accessories providing a great offer for women, men and children.

2006 Bricor

The first Bricor store opened, the chain in the group specialising in DIY and décor.

2009 “Health and Beauty”

The first “Health and Beauty” space was opened at El Corte Inglés store in Callao, Madrid, a new shopping concept dedicated to personal care and a wide range of services tailored to the customer.

2010 Gourmet Experience

El Corte Ingles store in Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, was expanded, offering a wide range of fashion and luxury goods, as well as exclusive areas dedicated to customer service.

The first Gourmet Experience opened in Madrid, a gastronomic area that combines firms and chefs of prestige with the sale of gourmet products.

2014 Dimas Gimeno, chairman

On September 14 Isidoro Álvarez died, after 25 years as chairman of El Corte Inglés.

Two days later, Dimas Gimeno Álvarez was appointed chairman of the Board of El Corte Inglés.

2015 Click&Express

The Click&Express service was launched, making it possible to make purchases online and receive the order at home in less than two hours or in the time slot that the recipient chooses.

2016 75th anniversary

El Corte Inglés celebrated its 75th anniversary, always at the forefront as a leader in innovation, technology, customer service, guarantee, quality and specialisation.

2017 Merger of El Corte Inglés and  Hipercor 

The merger of El Corte Inglés and  Hipercor took place.

Unique restaurants like Puertalsol and Las Nubes de Castellana were launched, along with new areas dedicated to selling organic products, such as La Biosfera.

2018Jesús Nuño de la Rosa, chairman

June 14, Jesús Nuño de la Rosa is appointed chairman of the Board of El Corte Inglés. Having spent his entire professional career at Viajes El Corte Inglés, he became CEO in 1998. Today, Vaijes El Corte Inglés is the leading company in the sector. 

2019Marta Álvarez, chairwoman

On the 10th of July the Board of Directors named Marta Álvarez, Isidoro Álvarez’s daughter, as its chairwoman. Her appointment meant that El Corte Inglés was once again led by a member of its founding family.

Marta Álvarez had already held positions of responsibility in various companies and areas of the Group. The architect behind the boosting and renewal of the Group’s own brands, she has also promoted significant advances in sustainability.

2020Grupo SICOR

In july 2020, the group incorporated SICOR, a company that will pursue a number of lines of business with the aim of offering retail and corporate customers a suite of services ranging from home security and alarms to facility cleaning, maintenance and logistics, among many others. 

2020App y El Corte Inglés Plus

In october 2020, we launched our new app and an annual flat-rate fee, El Corte Inglés Plus. These developments are changing how we interact with our customers and open the door to more personalised communication with digital users.

2021-2022New strategic alliances

We sealed a strategic deal with Mutua Group, which is taking an 8% shareholding in El Corte Inglés, in addition to a 50.01%-interest in El Corte Inglés Insurance Group.

Our leadership of the tourism sector has been reinforced thanks to the merger between Viajes El Corte Inglés and Logitravel.

We acquired the Sanchez Romero supermarket chain, a deal which will help consolidate our position as leader in the high-end supermarket segment.