Marbella and Puerto Banus, the two most glamorous holiday spots on the Costa del Sol boasts an exceptional choice of shopping venues that offer virtually all kinds of shopping experiences: food and street markets, souvenirs and craft shops, high street names and in the old town unique independent shops, luxurious designer brand boutiques, shopping malls and department stores – they have it all.
Marbella Unique Properties would like to recommend one type of shopping experience in particular, a must see while visiting Spain: shopping in the classical Spanish style department store called El Corte Inglés (“The English Court”) – A Spanish retail empire with headquartered in Madrid and branches spread all over the country. Throughout the decades El Corte Inglés has become a way of life for Spaniards. For generations it was a place where boys would buy their first suits, girls their First Communion dresses and families their washing machines etc. It is the largest department store chain in Europe on sales and the fourth-largest in the world. Its history began in 1935 when Ramón Areces bought a small tailoring shop in Madrid, that later expanded into another building and became a 2000 square meter department store distributed over five floors. Today El Corte Inglés operates 89 department stores, supermarkets (Supercor) hypermarkets (Hipercor), local corner shops (Opencor), fashion chain (Sfera), telephone services (Telecor) and decoration and DIY (Bricor); selling insurance and providing extensive range of services ranging from customer credit, to travel agencies through to IT services. In the 90’ the group was forced to explore the challenges of new sales channels and entered the e-commerce market, to be able to compete with online giants such as Amazon and Ali Express. Last year El Corte Inglés signed an agreement to develop a close collaboration with the online giant Alibaba.
On the Costa del Sol there are five branches in total, two in Malaga and one in Mijas, Marbella and Puerto Banús. The extensive Costa Marbella Shopping Centre in Puerto Banús is located in the northern corner of Plaza Antonio Banderas. The foreign visitors and residents appreciate high level customer service which makes their consumer experience very comfortable and pleasant. It is the ultimate shopper’s paradise encompassing a unique collection of luxury designers including Boss, Dkny, Chloe, Moschino, Gucci, Kenzo, Armani, Valentino, Missoni, Roberto Cavalli, Etro Versace, Emilio Pucci, Burberry, Etoile, Karen Millen etc…
The department store is distributed over 5 floors offering a wide range of products, services and gastronomical experiences:
BASEMENT 2:
Shopping: Bricor, School uniforms
Services: Customer Service – Interpreting service, VAT refunds, Gift list, Wedding list, New born list; Purchase card – payment and collecting point for the purchases in different departments; Click&Collect Service – collection of online purchases at Purchase Card collection point; Tickets sale service for shows and concerts; BodaMás – wedding planning and wedding list; Cash Points of Banco Andalucía, Bankia, Unicaja, Foreign currency exchange, Parking
BASEMENT 1:
Shopping: Sports, Stationary, Car Accessories, Pets Accessories and food
Services: Click&Car – car park collection point for online orders of food, cleaning and beauty products; Algalia – veterinary clinic & Hairdresser; Hedonai – cosmetic medical centre, forefront in laser hair removal; Lotteries and bets: “Loterías y Apuestas del Estado”, Lotoweb, Once; SGEL – Press and magazines, Alvatowsh – car wash; Auto mechanic service, Recharge of electric cars, Aguive – shoe repairs and key cutting; Raquet stringing shop, Bicycle repair, Pressto – Dry Cleaner, Post Office, Parking
GROUND FLOOR:
Shopping: Accessories, Shoes, Jewellery, Men’s fashion, Cosmetics, Perfume counter, Parapharmacy, VAT refunds
Services: Cafetería Rodilla – 70 years of tradition, Starbucks, Haagen-Dazs, La Puerta Terraza – café – the perfect meeting point; La Biosfera – ecological products department in the supermarket of El Corte Inglés; El Corte Inglés Sastrería – Made-to-measure tailoring; Nespresso stand, O.P.I – manicure service; Optica 2000 – Opticians; Tourist Information Desk; Clock and watch repair, Foreign currency exchange
FIRST FLOOR:
Shopping: Babies, Children Fashion, Children’s shoes, Lingerie and corsetry, Underwear, Women’s fashion
Services: Feeding room, New born list, L’Atelier de costura – Clothing alterations; Personal Shopper, Ébanni – hairdresser men&women; Peletería – Fur maintenance and storage; Café Patisserie Eric – delicacies baked daily from finest Belgian raw materials; Parking
SECOND FLOOR:
Shopping: Home & Decoration, Toys, Computing, Electronics, Travel accessories, Haberdashery, Groceries
Services: CrearHogar – home design service; Computer and IT services, Telecor – telecommunication services, Mobile Phone Operators: Orange, Vodaphone, Movistar; Viajes El Corte Inglés – Travel agency; Automatic Photography, L&N – Floral decoration & Floristry; Móvil Golden – Swarowski crystal incrusting; El Corte Inglés Seguros – Insurance service; Cafetería El Corte Inglés – tasty snacks for any time of the day; Food Hall: Le Bistroman – French bistro and Sushi section; El Txoko – Spanish tapas; Piccolo Experience – Italian restaurant; Rachel’s Eco Love – organic restaurant, Gastro Bar experience – a stylish bistro serving Moet & sea food; Gourmet Experience – gastronomic multi space, wine bodega and a selection of the best delicacies from Spain and all over the world: French cheese and foie gras, Russian caviar, Belgium chocolate, Spanish jamón serrano, British biscuits and much more; Parking
Marbella Unique Properties can highly recommend luxury properties for rent and for sale within walking distance to El Cortes Ingles and the Puerto Banus harbor.