Department Stores Industry Competitors

In the Spanish retail court, El Corte Inglés is king. The company operates Spain's leading chain of department stores and Hipercor hypermarkets, which span the country. The peseta doesn't stop at linens, apparel, and groceries, though. El Corte Inglés offers financial and travel services, insurance, online shopping, retail consulting, and telecommunications services....

Sears, Roebuck and Co. hasn't outgrown the mall scene, but it's spending more time in other places. Beyond its 860 US mall-based stores, Sears has more than 1,200 other locations nationwide. The company operates more than 850 independently owned Sears dealer stores in small towns and about 110 Sears hardware stores and some 85 Orchard Supply Hardware shops....

Its name has changed, but newly-christened Arcandor AG (formerly KARSTADT QUELLE) is still a big retail player at home in Germany and abroad. The group operates about 130 department stores (Karstadt, Hertie, Wertheim, Alsterhaus, and KaDeWe), sports shops, and leading mail-order firm Quelle....

Fashion is not the only art on display at Galeries Lafayette. Established in 1895, Galeries Lafayette stores offer private-label and designer apparel under such names as Christian LaCroix, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Valentino, and Yves Saint Laurent, while many stores feature restaurants....

The sun never sets on Marks and Spencer (M&S). The British retail icon operates about 325 M&S department stores and some 300 Simply Food shops throughout the UK. Beyond Britain, it boasts more than 275 locations, mostly franchises, in about 40 countries, including India, Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey....

S.A.C.I. Falabella may be more than 100 years old, but Chile's #1 department store chain is hardly showing its age. Falabella runs about 55 department stores, 70 Sodimac hardware and do-it-yourself stores, and 20 Tottus supermarkets in Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Columbia....

Sears Canada is proof that American institutions aren't limited to the US. One of the biggest Canadian department store retailers, the company operates nearly 125 stores that sell home fashions, appliances, and apparel. In addition to supplying about 160 independently owned stores with appliances, home electronics, and garden goods, Sears Canada runs about 50 furniture and appliances stores, a dozen outlet stores, and the largest catalog business in Canada....

Retail warrior Takashimaya Company has the honor of being Japan's oldest department store chain. Takashimaya has 20 stores throughout Japan and three overseas locations (New York, Singapore, and Taiwan); it also sells its products through catalogs and has its own credit card....

Many Japanese shoppers think The Daimaru just might be getting a little bit fresh with them. The Daimaru is one of Japan's largest department store operators, with about 15 upscale stores, primarily in Western Japan. The company's Daimaru Peacock unit also runs about 70 supermarkets in the Kanto and Kansai districts of Japan....

Adir International Export Ltd. (dba La Curacao) operates half a dozen La Curacao department stores in downtown Los Angeles and Orange County, California, that cater to Hispanics. The stores sell consumer electronics as well as appliances, furniture, books, music, and other merchandise, which it will ship to Mexico or Central America....

It would be futile to summarize Al-Futtaim Private Company's many activities in a sentence. The company, which often operates under the Al-Futtaim Group name, is a conglomerate in every sense of the word. The group consists of more than 40 subsidiary units operating through five core divisions (automotive, electronics, financial services, real estate, and retail) both within and beyond the United Arab Emirates....

Beijing Hualian Department Store Co. provides brand-name apparel and housewares for the residents of China. The company operates Beijing Hualian and Beijing Hualian Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department stores in cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Lanzhou, Shijiazhuang, and Zhengzhou....

Outlet mall capital Reading, Pennsylvania, has conceived more than bargain shopping. It's given us Boscov's Department Store, which operates about 50 department stores that anchor malls mainly in Pennsylvania and five other mid-Atlantic states. The stores sell men's, women's, and children's apparel, shoes, and accessories, as well as jewelry, cosmetics, housewares, appliances, toys, and sporting goods....

Boswells of Oxford really knows how to keep a good thing going. Perched inside the great wall of the UK's most brainy city, Boswells has been trading in the same physical spot in Oxford since 1738. That, and it is the city's biggest independent department store....

Though no one-horse open sleigh is required, this company wants you to go "Dashang through the dough." One of China's largest retailers, Dashang Group primarily operates about 130 mid- to large-sized retail outlets in about two dozen cities across China....

This Davy Jones isn't monkeyin' around. David Jones Limited is Australia's oldest department store, in operation since 1838 when settlers came to buy buckskins and ginghams. Today, the national retail chain operates about 35 stores offering Australian and international brands of apparel, accessories, footwear, cosmetics, home furnishings, and food....

Tradition is trying to catch up with the times at Dillard's. Sandwiched between retail giant Macy's and discount chains, such as Kohl's, Dillard's is being forced to rethink its strategy. The department store chain operates about 320 locations in some 30 states, covering the Sunbelt and the central US....

If you're looking for dealie-bobs, doodads, gizmos, or whatchamacallits, Far Eastern Department Stores is likely to carry them. Established in 1967, Far Eastern Department Stores operates some 40 general merchandise and grocery stores in key cities across Taiwan and mainland China....

Fortnum & Mason has the "food fit for a queen" market cornered. The 300-year-old upscale British department store, famous for its jams, teas, and sauces, provides the Queen with her annual supply of Christmas puddings. Founded in 1707, Fortnum & Mason's department store in Piccadilly serves as a tourist destination, as well as a world-class grocer....

Hart Stores started at the coast and is advancing like a retailing army, determined to conquer the heart of eastern Canada. The company operates about 75 midsized department stores (25,000 square feet on average) in smaller markets under the Hart, Bargain Giant, and Géant des Aubaines banners; the stores are found mostly in Québec, but also in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia....