El corte ingles eyes up milan expansion

John Lewis is not the only department store planning to expand overseas this month: El Corte Ingle is also eyeing up Italy to broaden its horizons.

The Spanish department store has been planning to open its doors in Italy for several years, with Rome and Milan both considered. The trade giant, though, has struggled in the years post-recession, only recording its first rise in sales since 2007 in February 2015.

The company, though, now has the investment of Qatari Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber Al Thani to bolster its ambitions, with €1.2 million until 2020 helping to implement the retailer's international strategy.

Europe and Latin America are the target areas of El Corte Ingle: in May 2015, the group also signed an alliance with Chilean department store giant Ripley, reports El Economista.

The retailer's new Italian home is likely to be Piazza Cordusio, the Central Post Office, in Milan, which was bought in 2014 by US fund Blackstone.