EL CORTE INGLES looks for expansion in Italy

Spanish group El Corte Inglés has confirmed to just-style.com, that the retailer is looking to open its department store banner and expand its Sfera clothing chain to . The retailer wants to open a 50,000 square-metre outlet in Rome or Milan to roll out its first department store in , a “very attractive” market it has been eyeing for some time. “Both cities are interesting. Milan is an economic stronghold while Rome has the tourists,” a spokeswoman for the retailer said. However, “finding an outlet of these characteristics is not always easy.” Despite the complicated search, the company hopes to enter in the near future, the spokeswoman reiterated. The retailer also hopes to open a Sfera store somewhere in in the short term while it is set to roll out a store in an undisclosed Saudi Arabian location by the end of the year. “Sfera is our most international banner and and the Middle East are very interesting markets,” the spokeswoman noted.