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,
Chain store along with legal countermeasures by chain-store groups. A chain store is characterised by the ownership or franchise relationship between the local business or outlet and a controlling business. While chains are typically "formula retail", a chain refers to ownership or franchise, whereas "formula retail" refers to the characteristics of the business. There is considerable overlap because key characteristic of a formula retail business is that it is controlled as a part of a business relationship, and is generally part of a chain. Nevertheless, most codified municipal regulation relies on definitions of formula retail (e.g., formula restaurants), in part because a