[8] The prime location of the property soon attracted the attention of an Asturian businessman, Pepin Fernandez, who was looking to expand a business called Sederias Carretas which he had started in 1934 with a capital contribution from his cousin Cesar Rodriguez Gonzales.

His plan was to purchase all of the properties on the block to construct a new building to house his business, a vision which was later realized in the form of Galerias Preciados.

[9] Around 1920, at 15, Areces had gone to Havana, Cuba, and worked at the famous retail chain Almacenes El Encanto, where he learned the basics of department store business.

Cesar Rodriguez had asked Pepin Fernandez to hire his nephew Ramon Areces in Sederias Carretas shortly after his return from Cuba.

Pepin refused, so Cesar requested that he at least allow Ramon to operate El Corte Inglés while plans to acquire the block and construct the new building were finalized.

Once Cesar took ownership of El Corte Inglés, he designated Ramon Areces as manager, a position which he held until his death, including during the Spanish civil war.

In 1945 and 1946, El Corte Inglés acquired its new building and expanded to encompass 2,000 square meters of retail space on 5 floors, and shifted to a department store organizational style similar to that of Galerias Preciados, which had been operational since 1943.

Seasonal discounts, organized ad campaigns, air conditioned stores, massive use of publicity, large scale use of display windows, customer loyalty cards, point of sale data collection, and more.

After Areces died in 1989, his nephew Isidoro Álvarez became his successor and continued to expand the business while emphasizing self-reliant financing methods, opaque management techniques, and careful investment.

[10] In addition to acquiring its arch-rival, El Corte Inglés purchased all of the Marks & Spencer stores in the Iberian peninsula in 2001.

In October 2013, the firm sold a 51% stake in the financing department to the Spanish banking group Grupo Santander for around €140 million.

[13] In June 2020, El Corte Inglés bought the private security and services company MEGA 2 for 28 million euros.

[14] The first attempts at international expansion happened in 1981 with the acquisition of the Harris Company, a chain of mid-sized department stores in the United States.

The venture was unsuccessful, and in 1998 El Corte Inglés made a deal with Gottschalks, an American department store chain.

Its social and corporate responsibility documents emphasize five pillars of commitment to the customers: quality, service, assortment, specialization, and guarantees.

[39][40][41] The company has pursued vertical integration since early on, especially with textiles, when Ramon Areces and other shareholders founded Induyco in 1949, and which became a sociedad anonimo in 1955.

Later, Induyco still had El Corte Inglés as its majority client, although the relationship was no longer exclusive, though its share structure remained the same, and Isidoro Alvarez was the president.

Mostoles Industrial, unlike Induyco, retained El Corte Inglés as its exclusive customer while having a non-proprietary relationship with it.

On the side of real estate development, the company created Construcción, Promociones e Instalaciones S.A. in 1976, whose capital is derived in its entirety from the El Corte Inglés group, and which is responsible for the construction of new stores and renovation of existing ones.

[44] The company periodically conducts large publicity campaigns like Semana Fanstisca (Fantasic Week) and the Ocho Dias de Oro (the Eight Golden Days) by announcing discounts on its products.

Furthermore, part of El Corte Inglés' company culture includes sponsoring a number of activities that also serve as a form of advertising.

In its place was built the Torre Titania tower and El Corte Inglés Castellana complex, designed by architects Pablo Muñoz López and Pedro Vilata Capón/Capont.

After the remodeling and reorganization, merchandise was presented in a differentiated and themed way, in addition to new brands, services, and spaces, such as the Gourmet Experience a food hall with sales of gourmet products, and dining options such as seafood, Asian, Italian, Iberian specialties, hamburgers, grilled meats and fish, cheeses, skewers, fresh pastries, and fresh juices.

Designer boutiques in the store include Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Armani, Armani Jeans, Armani Collezioni, Gucci, Loewe, Dockers, Ralph Lauren, Bulgari, Dior, Dior Homme, Georges Rech, Versace, Hugo Boss, Boss Woman, Ermenegildo Zegna, Tommy Hilfiger, Dolce&Gabbana, Burberry (men/women), Façonnable, Pal Zileri, Paul & Shark, Lacoste, Pavillon Christofle, CH by Carolina Herrera, Escada Sport, James Purdey and Sons, Lloyd's, Purificación García, Calvin Klein, Caroll Paris, Amitie, and Episode.

[citation needed] Also in the complex is a branch of the Madrid-based Aldeo jewelers, carrying such jewellery designers as Boucheron, Blancpain and Hamilton.