A department-store channel like El Corte Inglés is a different animal from a supermarket: pet sits alongside apparel and home as a considered range, which changes how a supplier should pitch.
El Corte Inglés: A Retail Institution
- Founded: 1940, in Madrid (originating from a small store acquired by Ramón Areces).
- Founder: Ramón Areces (the business was established as El Corte Inglés in Madrid in 1940).
- Headquarters: Madrid, Spain.
- Ownership: Privately held Spanish department-store group; chaired by Marta Álvarez.
- Scale / Revenue: FY2024-25 (to 28 February 2025) total transaction revenue of €16,675 million (up 2% total; +4.3% like-for-like); EBITDA €1,209 million (up 11.9%); net income €512 million (up 6.7%).
- Stores: 91 department stores, 285 supermarkets and 506 travel agencies in Spain; about 93,300 employees.
- Workforce: Approximately 93,300 employees.
- Customers: About 14.9 million registered customers at elcorteingles.es; over 891.7 million website/app visits in FY2024-25.
- Chairman: Marta Álvarez.
El Corte Inglés is unusual in Western Europe because it remains a true full-line department store with national coverage, rather than a fashion-only or grocery-only chain. Its supermarket arm, anchored by the Supercor and Opencor formats, extends food and essentials into prime urban and travel locations, while the large department stores carry home, electronics and lifestyle ranges under one roof. For a pet supplier, this means two distinct and navigable buying doors within a single, financially strong, privately held group, with the stability that private family-style governance brings compared with more volatile listed retailers.
Curated Formats and the Pet Counter
El Corte Inglés operates a multi-format, multi-category model: large department stores spanning fashion, beauty, home, electronics and food halls; a separate supermarket chain (Supercor and other formats); a travel agency network (Viajes El Corte Inglés); and financial and insurance subsidiaries. Buying is centralised by category and brand, with a strong own-brand programme complementing national and international third-party brands, and an increasingly important omnichannel presence. The group’s retail business reached a transaction value of €12.98 billion in 2024-25, with Food & Restaurants at €3,044 million (up 4.8%), Home & Electronics at €2,697 million, and Fashion & Beauty at €5,704 million.
For pet suppliers, the route to market splits between the supermarket/food-hall buying teams (pet food, treats, litter) and the home/general-merchandise teams (pet accessories, bedding, aquatics, small-animal housing). The department-store environment favours premium, branded and design-led pet products more than a pure grocery discounter would, and the affluent customer base supports higher price points. Because the group owns both the food and the general-merchandise doors, a supplier can in principle build a pet brand across the whole estate, but it must satisfy two different buying cultures: a grocery buyer focused on price and rotation, and a home buyer focused on presentation and margin.
Where Pet Lives in the Store
Pet products sit across two of El Corte Inglés’s strengths: the food halls and supermarkets (dog and cat food, treats, litter, basic accessories) and the home/general-merchandise floors (premium accessories, beds, aquatics, small-animal and reptile supplies). The group’s own-brand strength and its appetite for differentiated, design-conscious products make it receptive to premium pet lines, giftable pet hampers and stylish accessories that match its department-store aesthetic. The food-hall environment in particular is a natural home for premium nutrition and treat ranges that would be lost on a discounter shelf.
For exporters, the opportunity is to supply premium and branded pet nutrition through the supermarket channel and distinctive, higher-margin pet accessories and aquatics through the general-merchandise channel, leveraging the 14.9 million online customers for discovery and home delivery. Suppliers with strong brands, premium positioning and the ability to support visual merchandising and online content will find El Corte Inglés more open than price-led grocers, especially for non-food pet ranges. Seasonal and giftable pet products also perform well in the department-store context, where the group actively promotes hampers and themed sets around holidays.
Buying and Compliance at El Corte Inglés
In operational terms, El Corte Inglés’s centralised, brand-led buying means suppliers typically engage the relevant category team — supermarket/food-hall buyers for pet food and the home/general-merchandise buyers for accessories, aquatics and small-animal ranges — with a finished, brand-ready proposition rather than a raw export catalogue. The group’s own-brand strength and premium department-store positioning bring elevated expectations on product quality, visual presentation and brand standards, and suppliers should be ready for social and environmental due diligence consistent with a large Spanish retailer. Spain applies the EU PPWR framework and national packaging-waste rules, so recyclable, compliant packaging and Spanish-language labelling are required, with clear country-of-origin marking. Because the estate spans 91 department stores and 285 supermarkets plus a fast-growing online channel (14.9 million registered customers), suppliers must support both in-store visual merchandising and digital content. MOQs are moderate-to-high for a national listing, but the premium environment supports smaller, higher-margin pet ranges, particularly design-led accessories and distinctive nutrition that match the El Corte Inglés shopper.
Pet-food suppliers must comply with EU feed and pet-food law (Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 and Regulation (EU) 2017/1017 on labelling and composition), hold the required establishment registration, and be certified to IFS, BRCGS or FSSC 22000. Spain applies the EU PPWR framework and national packaging-waste rules, so recyclable, compliant packaging and Spanish-language labelling are required; country-of-origin marking must be clear. Suppliers should also expect technical dossiers, traceability evidence and the ability to support the group’s private-label development where relevant.
Non-food pet items must meet EU GPSR, EU REACH and product-safety and labelling rules, with Spanish-language instructions and full traceability. El Corte Inglés’s emphasis on own-brand and premium positioning means suppliers should be ready for brand-standards, quality and visual-merchandising expectations, plus social and environmental due diligence consistent with a large Spanish retailer. MOQs are moderate-to-high for a national listing across 91 department stores and 285 supermarkets, but the premium positioning supports smaller, higher-margin ranges. Suppliers should approach via the relevant category buying teams with Spanish-language, fully compliant documentation and a brand/premium proposition, and they should budget for in-store presentation support that matches the department-store standard.
2024-2026 Developments
In FY2024-25 (to 28 February 2025) El Corte Inglés delivered total transaction revenue of €16,675 million (up 2% total; +4.3% like-for-like), EBITDA of €1,209 million (up 11.9%) and net income of €512 million (up 6.7%), with recurring net income of €470 million. All segments grew: Retail transaction value reached €12,976 million (+3.9%), Food & Restaurants €3,044 million (+4.8%), Home & Electronics €2,697 million (+3.4%) and Fashion & Beauty €5,704 million (+4.9%). Net financial debt fell €263 million to about 1.5x EBITDA, and the group entered 2025-26 with a positive outlook.
The company also reported more than 891.7 million website and app visits and 14.9 million registered online customers, underlining its omnichannel momentum, while subsidiaries Viajes, Financiera and Seguros all grew. These results marked a continued recovery from the difficult pandemic and family-governance period, with management efficiency, customer service and own-brand innovation cited as drivers. For pet suppliers, El Corte Inglés’s profitable, debt-reducing, omnichannel-growing profile signals a stable, premium-minded buyer with both food-hall and general-merchandise pet opportunities, and a group with the balance-sheet strength to support new supplier onboarding.
A Premium Pet Entry Route
- Split the approach: Pitch pet food via supermarket buyers and premium accessories/aquatics via home/general-merchandise teams.
- Lead with brand and design: Department-store shoppers reward premium, stylish and differentiated pet products.
- Leverage omnichannel: The 14.9 million online customers support discovery and home-delivery pet ranges.
- Localise for Spain: Spanish-language labelling, EU/PPWR-compliant packaging and brand standards are required.
- Support visual merchandising: In-store presentation and online content strength improve ranging decisions.
- Plan for the premium tier: Higher price points are defensible in food halls and home floors, so margin-rich pet lines fit better than commodity SKUs.
— Scott Zhu, Founder, GlobalPetIndex
Sources & Related Reading
Related on GlobalPetIndex
- More Market Intel: Retail Channel
- Global Pet Brand Directory
- Carrefour: The Hypermarket Pioneer’s Three-Country Bet and Pet Sourcing Shift
- E.Leclerc: France’s Price-Leader Cooperative and Value-Driven Pet Ranging
- Intermarché: The Federated Musketeers Network and Flexible Pet Sourcing
