Falabella (retail store)

For other uses, see Falabella (disambiguation).

Falabella department store in Santiago, Chile.

Falabella is a Chilean department store retailer owned by the Falabella company

Locations and products

Falabella department stores can be found in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Falabella Department stores sell a wide variety of merchandise including apparel, home furnishings, electronics and sporting goods. Falabella is a multi-channel retailer selling by web, phone, catalog, and television.

There are as of 2010 39 locations in Chile, 15 in Peru, 10 in Argentina, and 9 in Colombia.

History and operations

The company was founded by Salvatore Falabella a Italian Chilean immigrant, in 1889. In its original form, it was a tailor shop but today has become one of the largest retailers in South America. Through organic growth and mergers, the company has added a number of additional businesses. In the early 1980s, Falabella created CMR, a private credit card. The financial division of the company also includes retail bank Banco de Falabella with branches in Chile and Peru, a travel agency and insurance reseller found in all 4 countries where Falabella has department stores.

A Falabella Department Store in Viña del Mar, Chile.

In the late 1990s, Falabella created a joint venture with Home Depot to expand into Chile. It was later bought out by Falabella. Homecenter later merged with Sodimac to create the largest big box home improvement retailer in South America with stores in all 4 countries.

Falabella also operates supermarkets under the Tottus and San Francisco brands in Chile and Peru. In 2010 the company began an aggressive expansion program to increase its presence in the 4 countries that it operates with 40 new locations of all its brands including malls, power centers, strip malls all to be anchored by Fallabella Department stores.

External links

• Falabella