Department store
The first department store in Spain was Almacenes el Siglo opened in October 1881 in Barcelona. Following the 2002 closure by the Australian group Partridges of their SEPU (Sociedad Espanola de Precios Unicos) department store chain, which was one of Spain's oldest, the market is now dominated by El Corte Ingles, founded in 1934 as a drapery store. El Corte Ingles stores tend to be vast buildings, selling a very broad range of products and the group also controls a number of other retail formats including supermarket chain 'Supercor' and hypermarket chain 'Hipercor'. Other competitors such as 'Simago' and 'Galerias Preciados' closed in the 1990s, however El Corte Ingles, faces major competition from French discount operators such as Carrefour and Auchan.
What was the name of the first Spanish department store?
Almacenes el Siglo
The first department store in Spain was Almacenes el Siglo opened in October 1881 in Barcelona.
Department store