Department store has its headquarters. As of 2016, there were 95 El Corte Inglés department stores. Other competitors such as Simago and Galerías Preciados closed in the 1990s. However, El Corte Inglés faces major competition from French discount operators such as Carrefour and Auchan. In Sri Lanka there are few department stores. Most are based on Colombo, the country's capital. Notable department stores are Odel, the Food City chain by Cargills (Ceylon) PLC and the Arpico chain operated by David Pieris & Co. The largest department store chain in Sweden is Åhléns, which operates stores throughout the country. Its flagship Stockholm store,
Payless DIY Payless DIY Payless DIY was the name of a chain of DIY stores in the UK during the 1980s. The name was first used in 1983 to re-brand the Marley Homecare chain. The change was done under the chairmanship of Tom O'Sullivan, MD Ted Lansdowne and Merchandising Director Doug Spickernell to counter public perception of the Marley name as good, reliable but expensive. The transformation was inspired by the model adopted by Wickes in the U.S.A., i.e. larger stocks of trade-related goods, particularly timber and building lines, and a classic "pile it high, sell it cheap" approach. Not just a