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El Palacio de Hierro

Mexican department store chain

El Palacio de Hierro

Original 1891 store, still in operation, historic center of Mexico City
Company type	Department store
Industry	Retail
Founded	1850 as Las Fábricas de Francia, 1888; 136 years ago (1888)asEl Palacio de Hierro
Headquarters	Mexico City, Mexico
Key people	Juan Carlos Escribano (CEO)
Products	Apparel and accessories, cosmetics, electronics, home furnishings and appliances, gourmet food, services (restaurants, food halls, hair salons, travel agency)
Website	www.elpalaciodehierro.com

El Palacio de Hierro (operated by the corporation Grupo El Palacio de Hierro S.A.B. de C.V.; (a.k.a. Palacio, English: The Iron Palace) is an upscale chain of 16 full-line Palacio de Hierro department stores, 3 Boutique Palacio junior department stores, 2 Casa Palacio home stores, and 2 outlets located in Greater Mexico City and 8 other major cities across Mexico. It has two flagship stores - one the original historic flagship in the Historic center of Mexico City and the "Palacio de los Palacios" (Palace of the Palaces) store in the Polanco district, reopened in 2016 after an extensive renovation costing US$300 million, and at 55,200 m² (594,168 sq ft), the largest department store in Latin America.^[2] Palacio de Hierro has been a member of the International Association of Department Stores since 2000.^[3]

History[edit]

Origins[edit]

In the 1850s, French immigrant Victor Gassier opened a clothing store, Las Fábricas de Francia (The Factories of France), not related with the currently operating Fábricas de Francia chain. In 1860, Gassier teamed up with Alexander Reynaud, forming a business called Gassier & Reynaud. In 1876, José Tron, his brother Henri and José Leautaud bought in, forming the association V. Gassier & Reynaud, Sucs. S. en C.. In 1879 the business' formal name was changed to J. Tron y Cía. (J. Tron and Co), but continued to trade as Las Fábricas de Francia.

Tron and Leautaud's business kept growing and in 1879, they started plans to build a store in Mexico City along the lines of the upscale stores that had already opened in Paris by that time, such as Le Bon Marché. In 1888 they bought the land to build their store, and later hired the Mexican architect Ignacio de la Hidalga to build a five-story building, the first in Mexico City made of iron and steel. As such, people who passed by would ask "what iron palace (palacio de hierro) are they building?". In 1891, when construction finished, Tron and Leautaud decided to rename the business El Palacio de Hierro, taking advantage of the publicity earned during construction.

On April 15, 1914 a fire destroyed the building. Other buildings were then used. As the Mexican Revolution made immediate reconstruction difficult or impossible, it took until 1921 to open the new store. French architect Paul Dubois designed the store in art nouveau style, featuring dual stained-glass ceilings by Jacques Grüber^[1] (1870-1936) of Nancy, France, and which opened for business on October 14, 1921.^[4][5]

Nowadays, El Palacio de Hierro is part of Grupo BAL, a Mexican conglomerate with interests in insurance, mining and retail.

Product lines[edit]

Product lines are broader than those carried by U.S. department stores today, including full ranges of electronics (televisions, laptops, cellphones), large home appliances (white goods, small appliances, furniture and home furnishings and accessories, mattresses, domestics (bed linens, towels), sporting goods, books and magazines, candy, gourmet food, wines, and liquors. In-store services include restaurants, food halls, hair salons, spa services, and a travel agency.^[6] However, women's, men's and children's apparel and accessories, fine jewelry, cosmetics, and fragrances, still dominate. In these areas, Palacio is the high-end chain in Mexico, compared to others such as Liverpool and Sears Mexico.

Palacio is the only Mexican department store chain that carries and in many cases, hosts in-store boutiques for, a broad range of global luxury brands. In late 2023, for example, the chain featured Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Carolina Herrera, Saint Laurent Paris, Alexander McQueen, Dolce & Gabbana, Ferragamo,Givenchy, Chloé, Balmain, Golden Goose Deluxe Brand, Moschino, and Rimowa on its website.^[7] Other brands carried in recent times have included Bvlgari, Bottega Veneta, Hermès, Tiffany's, Cartier, Esprit, Max Mara, BCBG Max Azria, Emporio Armani, Fendi, Gucci, Tory Burch, Prada, Ermenegildo Zegna, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Versace, Swarovski, Burberry, Escada, Juicy Couture. It also carries some Mexican high-end brands. But Palacio also carries many upper middle-range brands such as Emilio Pucci, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, and Spain-based Carolina Herrera, Adolfo Domínguez, Purificación García^[es] and Mango.

Store formats[edit]

Grupo El Palacio de Hierro S.A.B. de C.V. operates various store formats:

• 15 full-line Palacio de Hierro department store
• 3Boutique Palacio junior department stores,
• 2Casa Palacio home stores, and
• 2Palacio Outlet stores
• Free-standing fashion brand stores in shopping malls.

Palacio de Hierro stores[edit]

Original downtown flagship[edit]

The original store and historic flagship (1891, rebuilt and reopened 1921),^[8] still operates along the north side of Venustiano Carranza street in the Historic center of Mexico City, one block south of the Zócalo (main square), between 5 de Febrero and 20 de Noviembre avenues.

Durango, Colonia Roma[edit]

The Durango store, on Durango street in Colonia Roma Norte, is the only other freestanding Palacio, and was the first branch store, opened in 1958. The architects José Aspe Sais and Vladimir Kaspé designed it in functionalist style, and the department store construction expert constructed the building in only 16 months. In 1967, under visionary leadership of Alberto Baillères, the Durango store was remodeled and modernized. Harper’s Bazaar called it the "Store of the Century" due its modern character.^[9]

Polanco flagship[edit]

Since its complete remodel and reopening in 2016, the de facto flagship store is the 4-story, 55,248-square-metre (594,680 sq ft) freestanding store in Polanco designed by architect Javier Sordo Madaleno, which the company gave the nickname "El Palacio de los Palacios", "the Palace of the Palaces").^[10] The advertising campaign for the 2016 relaunch of the store was『Polanco tiene un nuevo corazón: El Palacio de los Palacios』("Polanco has a new heart: The Palace of Palaces") and featured top models David Gandy, Isabeli Fontana and Carmen Dell'Orefice. 10,000 people attended the re-opening event on November 6, 2016. Javier Sordo Madaleno was the architect; TPG Architecture designed the interiors of the lower two floors, Gensler the upper two floors.^[11]

Each floor was designed with a theme of different famous neighborhoods in Mexico City, a nickname of which is the "City of Palaces":^[11]

• The ground floor, with the cometics area and luxury brand boutiques (with internal walls or similar features distinguishing them as separate spaces from, with distinct entrances from, the main store area. The turn-of-the-20th-century Paris-inspired Paseo de la Reforma, and the colonial Alameda Central park are the themes of this floor.
• The 1st floor up (U.S.: 2nd floor) with the women's and children's areas, recreates Lomas de Chapultepec and Polanco
• The 2nd floor up, (U.S.: 3rd floor) with the gourmet food hall, men's and technology departmnets, has the Roma and Condesa areas as its inspiration. The food hall is partially inside from and partially on a 1,500 m² (16,000 sq ft) patio with views over Polanco.
• The 3rd floor up (U.S.: 4th floor) with the home store, emulates Jardines del Pedregal

The property originally was a mall called Molière222, opened in 1997, and included a smaller Palacio store; in 2015 the mall area was incorporated into the Palacio store as part of the US$300 million remodel and expansion.^[8]

Coyoacán (Mitikah)[edit]

In 2022, a new store at the new Mítikah shopping center in Xoco neighborhoods adjacent to Coyoacán replaced the store built in 1989 just to the west at the Centro Coyoacán mall. The new Coyoacán Palacio has 5 levels and 38,000 m² (410,000 sq ft) of floor space in the current phase, with plans to expand to 47,000 m² (510,000 sq ft). It features a 9.7 m (32 ft)-high crystal dome measuring 1,652 m² (17,780 sq ft) at its base and which uses 2,100 sq ft (2,100 sq ft) of crystal and 163 metric tons of metal.^[12]

Others[edit]

There are 4 other full-line Palacio branches in Greater Mexico City, and like the Mitikah store, each anchors an upscale mall across the metropolitan area's affluent western half: Perisur (1980), Santa Fe (1993), Satélite (1998), and Interlomas (2011).

There are 6 full-line Palacio stores in the rest of the country, one each in Greater Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Querétaro, Veracruz, and Villahermosa.

• 
  Painting of the original Palacio (Centro) in 1898
• 
  1904 postcard of Palacio–Centro
• 
  1908 painting of Palacio-Centro
• 
  Palacio-Centro, 1912 before fire^[1]
• 
  1925 postcard of the current Palacio de Hierro–Centro building, opened in 1921^[13]
• 
  Polanco store exhibiting Uriarte Talavera
• 
  Entrance to Casa Palacio, Centro Santa Fe, 2013

Boutiques[edit]

In 2001, Grupo Palacio de Hierro opened its first freestanding branded boutiques: Mango in the Centro Coyoacán mall and SpringfieldinGalerías Monterrey.^[14]

Locations[edit]

Stores operated by Grupo Palacio de Hierro, not including fashion brand free-standing boutique stores.

Store	Floor area	City/ Metro area	Neighborhood	Location, Notes	Opened	Closed	Photo
Centro	18,223 m2 (196,150 sq ft)[14]	Mexico City	Historic center of Mexico City	Venustiano Carranza St.	1891/ 1921[8]	open
First store and original flagship.
Durango	45,260 m2 (487,200 sq ft)[14]	Mexico City	Roma Norte	Durango St.	1958[8]
Interlomas	36,815 m2 (396,270 sq ft)[14]	Mexico City (metro area)	Interlomas, State of Mexico	Paseo Interlomas	2011[8]
Coyoacan (Mitikah)	38,000 m2 (410,000 sq ft)	Mexico City	Xoco near Coyoacán	Mítikah. Replaced the store in the Centro Coyoacán mall.	2022
Perisur	37,888 m2 (407,820 sq ft)[15]	Mexico City	Jardines del Pedregal	Perisur	1980[8]
Polanco	52,480 m2 (564,900 sq ft) (net) 86,248 m2 (928,370 sq ft) (gross)[14]	Mexico City	Polanco	Moliere St.	1997/2015
"El Palacio de los Palacios". Moliere street #222, full city block between Moliere, Homero, Horacio, and Platón streets. Opened 1997 as part of a mall. Expanded 2015.
Coyoacán (closed store)		Mexico City	Coyoacán	Centro Coyoacán	1989[8]	2022[16]
Replaced 2022 by Mítikah store.
Santa Fe	52,050 m2 (560,300 sq ft)[14][15]	Mexico City	Santa Fe	Centro Santa Fe	1993
Satélite	36,205 m2 (389,710 sq ft)[14]	Mexico City (metro area)	Ciudad Satélite, State of Mexico	Plaza Satélite	1998[17][8]
Guadalajara	43,737 m2 (470,780 sq ft)[14]	Guadalajara (metro area)	Zapopan	Andares	November 2008[8]
León		León			2024. Temporary store open now.[18]
Monterrey	43,735 m2 (470,760 sq ft)[14]	Monterrey (metro area)	San Pedro Garza García	Paseo San Pedro	2005[8]
Puebla	33,743 m2 (363,210 sq ft)[14]	Puebla	Angelópolis	Angelópolis	2002[8]
Querétaro	48,282 m2 (519,700 sq ft)[14]	Querétaro		Antea	opened 2014[8]
Veracruz	16,040 m2 (172,700 sq ft)[14]	Veracruz (city)	Boca del Río, Veracruz	Andamar	2019[19]
Villahermosa	35,844 m2 (385,820 sq ft)[14]	Villahermosa		Plaza Altabrisa	2012[8]
Casa Palacio– Antara	10,765 m2 (115,870 sq ft)[14]	Mexico City	Polanco	Antara	2006[20][8]
Casa Palacio– Santa Fe	9,937 m2 (106,960 sq ft)[14]	Mexico City	Santa Fe	Centro Santa Fe	2013 (April)[20][8]
La Boutique Palacio Acapulco	7,290 m2 (78,500 sq ft)[14]	Acapulco			December 2008[8]
La Boutique Palacio Acoxpa	6,850 m2 (73,700 sq ft)[14]	Mexico City	Tlalpan borough	Paseo Acoxpa	September 2010[8]
La Boutique Palacio Cancún	9,206 m2 (99,090 sq ft)[14]	Cancún		La Isla Shopping Village	November 2010[8]
Palacio Outlet Lerma	4,165 m2 (44,830 sq ft)[14]	Toluca	Lerma		2001
Palacio Outlet Punta Norte	3,358 m2 (36,150 sq ft)[14]	Mexico City (metro area)		Punta Norte Premium Outlets	2005

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to El Palacio de Hierro.

• eCommerce Site
• Official Site
• Photo Gallery