Tendam, formerly The Cortefiel Group is one of Europe’s leading fashion retailers operating in the specialised chain segment. The Group is present in 79 countries with 2,056 points of sale – 1,462 directly operated stores and 594 franchises.
History and expansion in the world
It started out in 1880 as a family-run haberdashery store situated on Calle Romanones in Madrid. Over the years, this small business would move into other areas including textile production, before finally channelling its efforts into distribution, its major activity over the last few decades.
1933 saw the creation of the La Palma shirt factory, which included the most advanced production techniques of the day. It was followed in 1945 by the tailoring factory, which in 1946 produced the first men’s suits under the Cortefiel label. In 1954, and coinciding with the founding of Manufacturas del Vestido, the firm became a holding company.
The Group continued to grow during the 1980s with the creation of the men’s tailoring brand Milano (1984) and its casual youth fashion brand, Springfield (1988). In 1989 the firm acquired Pedro del Hierro, and in 1993 launched women’secret, its underwear and swimwear brand created by and for women.
During the eighties work also got underway on the diversification of the Group’s retail formats, driven by the need to provide the Group with greater capacity for growth and segmentation and the ability to meet consumers’ needs.
Its international expansion strategy dates back to 1993, although the period of fastest growth was registered between 2000 and 2003, when the sales surface area handled by the Group increased by more than 70%. In 2005 MEP Retail acquired a stake in the Group, bringing about a change in the share ownership and management team. This same period also saw a sharp rise in the Group’s global franchise business.
The women’secret online store was launched in 2000, and 2010 saw the consolidation of the Group’s ecommerce area with the creation of the SPF.com online store. This will be followed in the coming months by further online stores from Pedro del Hierro, Cortefiel and Fifty Factory.
The Group has a network of international buying offices in Spain, Hong Kong and India. Distribution is centralised at the Madrid logistics platform, backed up by an additional centre in Hong Kong, supplying both the Group’s own stores and franchises. The multibrand growth strategy has been further reinforced through international expansion and the development of the online channel.