El Corte Inglés is returning to its plan to close its least profitable stores. And it seems that, after several months with more than a hundred assets on the market, the current management team is now going to combine its two real estate strategies. In parallel, it is also going to create its own real estate unit, another approach that the Group has considered on various occasions.
The idea is not new. The former CEO of El Corte Inglés from 2014 to 2018, Dimas Gimeno, who took over from his uncle, proposed a redefinition of the business of the largest Spanish retailer at the time, which involved closing the least profitable establishments, promoting online shopping and discount strategies and taking advantage of its real estate portfolio to generate cash. The late Isidoro Álvarez had always refused to carry out that measure.
Read the full article in Spanish.
