steviedeluxe

Is there a future for big department stores like this? Or does the combination of the internet and stores like Zara/Primark etc., spell curtains?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...ructuring.html

olivefarmer

I am not sure who actually shops there.

The store in Granada never seems very busy and apart from the (expensive) niche product I go in for I never see much that attracts me. In a nutshell I am not sure who it is targetted at.

Domino

They are a department store, and most of their customers wouldn't be seen dead in a Primark or Zara.
Their customer base is the older, and wealthier, Spanish and foreign visitors, people who like to be treated as sensible adults who know what they want and want lasting quality.

And since when did P or Z sell televisions, computers, mens wallets, watches etc etc ??

Fredbargate

Me

Me again

El Corte Ingles do have some bargains if you shop carefully. not everything is more expensive than elswhere and they are very good if you have any problems.

However like a lot of places service can vary greatly from store to store, for example I would never buy from the one at Jose Banus.

cricketman

Not only you, everybody shops there - except the very poor

5 years ago it was very expensive, but they have brought their prices down a lot recently. I remember a few years ago you couldnt buy a suitcase for under 150 euros - or a tie for under 80 euros! But now they have much cheaper options available

It wasn't that their products were overpriced, the problem was that they only used to stock premium brands for certain goods, but now they have a much wider range.

Domino

I went in there to look for a new wallet, but even the reduced section had wallets more expensive than the 50 euros I had in my old and battered UK wallet.

But then you may get a shock at the 500 euro bottles of fine cognac in their excellent Gourmet Club.

cricketman

Yes absolutely, just goes to show that there are lots of wealthy Spaniards

The furniture at El Corte Ingles is now reasonably price, great quality and good looking too. A few years ago it was ugly, dated and incredibly expensive

El Corte Ingles is basically a John Lewis/Waitrose. The difference is that El Corte Ingles and Hipercor have a much greater market share in Spain than Waitrose and John Lewis have in the UK

jackytoo

Yes they have good customer and after sales service too! I ordered some garden parasols and chose the wrong size they came and collected them and brought the size I wanted even though it was my fault.

Wasn't too keen on Hipercor's delivery service, they often sent out of date stuff.

I don't think you can compare Corte Inglés share of the market with John Lewis as there are many other large dept. stores of quality in the UK to split the share.

Alectryon

But then you may get a shock at the 500 euro bottles of fine cognac in their excellent Gourmet Club.

Not to mention the 800 Euro bottle of Scotch - a Johnie Walker green or blue label item as I remember, but I may be wrong. I took an Irish couple there (Linares) and the lady picked it up, waved it about shouting 'Look at the price of this'. Both her husband and I nearly fainted whilst imploring her to put it back on the shelf - very, very carefully.

Lynn R

I have shopped there for clothes, but in common with other more expensive shops, I wait until the sales are on. I see no sense in paying 50% more for something when I can wait a few weeks and get it for less.

Domino

either I missed it, or they were out of stock when I visited
perhaps it was you that bought the only bottle they had ??

Alectryon

I won't do clothes shopping in Corte Ingles - the mens clothing is so expensive and the quality is not that good.

cricketman

I buy most my clothes from El Corte Ingles

I dont know how you can say that the clothes are not good quality, they have most of the good brands.

Most of my clothes are Hugo Boss, Diesel and LaCoste, along with Camper shoes. I buy them exactly because they are good quality and last 10 years or so, rather than cheaper clothes that last 2 or 3 washes (bad experience at H&M)

So in the long run, it makes sense - and you look a lot better

And just to add, I like Lynn prefer to go in the sales. You can get absolute bargains, I got some great ski gear this year all at half price because so few people can afford to go skiing any more. This is actually a very important point, in Spain at the moment the best bargains are at the top end of the market because people arent daring to spend their money. The Hugo Boss store near me had a 50% off everything sale recently, we got 2k dicount off a Bo Concept sofa and you can even get a brand new Jaguar XF now for 35k euros, about the same price as a top of the range Mondeo!

Alectryon

Yeah, like I would spend more money on a bottle of Scotch than the combined bill for the year of Council Tax, Basura Tax, Water Tax, Car Insurance, House Insurance et al. I know that you were joking though.

jennieJ

You have probably explained why Corte Ingles can retain their high prices unlike JL who have to compete with other retailers supplying in a similar way.

That said about a year since I ordered an integrated cooker/hob and chimney from JL and through my own incompetence ordered the wrong fit of chimney and JL came an collected the wrong one and replaced it with a suitable one at no extra charge, so they seem to be operating a similar service level.

I guess you just have to pay through the nose for good service everywhere.