El Palacio de Hierro (officially ''El Palacio de Hierro S.A. de C.V.''; en, The Iron Palace) is an upscale chain of

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Its flagship store in

Polanco, Mexico City Polanco is a neighborhood in the Miguel Hidalgo borough of Mexico City. Polanco is an affluent '' colonia'', noted for its luxury shopping along Presidente Masaryk Avenue, the most expensive street in Mexico, as well as for the numerous promin ...

, reopened in 2016 after an extensive renovation of US$300 million and an expansion of . It is the largest department store in Latin America and has been a member of the

International Association of Department Stores The International Association of Department Stores (IADS) is a retail trade association founded in 1928 by a group of department stores with the goal of introducing modern management methods derived from the scientific management movement to the ...

since 2000.

History

In the 1850s, a clothing store opened in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

called "Las Fábricas de Francia" (''The Factories of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

'') which was owned by Victor Gassier, a Frenchman (not to be confused with the currently

Fábricas de Francia El Puerto de Liverpool S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Liverpool, is a mid-to-high end retailer which operates the largest chain of department stores in Mexico. It operates 136 stores under the Liverpool name, 131 stores under the Suburbia name, ...

chain, operated by

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

). 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.''. However, it continued to trade as "Las Fábricas de Francia". From here Tron and Leautaud's endeavor met with considerable success. In 1879, they began planning to build a department store in Mexico City similar to upscale stores in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(''

Le Bon Marché Le Bon Marché (lit. "the good market", or "the good deal" in French; ) is a department store in Paris. Founded in 1838 and revamped almost completely by Aristide Boucicaut in 1852, it was one of the first modern department stores. It was ...

''),

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(''

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...

''),

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(''

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

''), and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

(''

De Bijenkorf De Bijenkorf (; literally, "the beehive") is a chain of high-end department stores in the Netherlands, with its flagship store on Dam Square in Amsterdam. The chain is owned by Selfridges Group, which also owns Britain's Selfridges and Ireland's ...

''). In 1888 they bought land to construct their store. They hired the Mexican architect Ignacio de la Hidalga for the project and construction was to last until 1891. Tron and Leautaud chose to build a five-story building. It was, notably the first building in

made of

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

. As the first such structure in Mexico, people who passed by often asked "What iron palace 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 they earned during construction. El Palacio de Hierro - panoramio (1)

On April 15, 1914 a fire destroyed the building. Other buildings were then used. With the end of the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

, construction began on a new building, designed by French architect Paul Dubois, was completed the building in 1921. The Art Nouveau building opened in 1920 with dual stained-glass ceilings by

Jacques Grüber Jacques Grüber (25 January 1870 – 15 December 1936) was a French woodworker and glass artist. Grüber was born in Sundhouse (Alsace). After starting his training at the , where he would later be a teacher, he followed his learning with Gusta ...

(1870-1936) of Nancy, France. Nowadays, El Palacio de Hierro is part of

Grupo BAL Grupo BAL is a cluster of Mexican companies in various sectors of the economy. Its president was Alberto Gonzalez Baillères,the second richest man in Mexico in 2013, according to ''Forbes''. Gonzalez's son Alejandro Baillères has been preside ...

a diversified conglomerate in

with interests in insurance, mining and retail Product lines range from clothing, to houseware, furniture, jewelry, select foods, toys, spa, travel services, and electronics. Especially in the clothing area, it is a high-end retailer, carrying top Mexican domestic brands, as well as hosting many in-store boutiques from exclusive lines such as

Emilio Pucci Don Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento (; 20 November 1914 – 29 November 1992) was an Italian aristocrat, fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company are synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colors. Earl ...

Tiffany's Tiffany & Co. (colloquially known as Tiffany's) is a high-end luxury jewelry and specialty retailer, headquartered on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. It sells jewelry, sterling silver, porcelain, crystal, stationery, fragrances, water bottles, watc ...

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( /hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upst ...

Cartier Cartier may refer to: People * Cartier (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Cartier Martin (born 1984), American basketball player Places * Cartier Island, an island north-west of Australia that is part of Australia' ...

, Esprit,

Max Mara Max Mara (Italian aks 'ma:ra is an Italian fashion business. It markets up-market ready-to-wear clothing. It was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti (7 January 1927 – 12 January 2005). In March 2008, the company had 2, ...

BCBG Max Azria Max Azria (January 1, 1949 – May 6, 2019) was a Tunisian-Jewish-born American fashion designer who founded the contemporary women's clothing brand BCBG MAX AZRIA. Azria was also the designer, chairman and CEO of the BCBG Max Azria Group,Musta ...

Emporio Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and h ...

Fendi Fendi () is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house producing fur, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories. Founded in Rome in 1925, Fendi is known for its fur, fur accessories, and leather goods. ...

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather ...

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragran ...

Tory Burch Tory Burch (née Robinson; born June 17, 1966) is an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and philanthropist. She is the Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of her own brand, Tory Burch LLC. She was listed as the 88th most powerf ...

Salvatore Ferragamo Salvatore Ferragamo (5 June 1898 – 7 August 1960) was an Italian shoe designer and the founder of luxury goods high-end retailer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. An innovative shoe designer, Salvatore Ferragamo established a reputation in the 1930s. ...

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

Ermenegildo Zegna Ermenegildo Zegna (; born 30 September 1955), often simply known and referred to as Gildo Zegna, is an Italian entrepreneur and manager. He is Chairman and CEO of Ermenegildo Zegna Group. Early life and education Gildo is a grandson of Ermeneg ...

, Ralph Lauren,

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as w ...

, Swarovski,

Michael Kors Michael David Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr. August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and f ...

Burberry Burberry is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry headquartered in London, England. It currently designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats (for which it is most famous), leather accessorie ...

Escada Escada SE is a luxury women's designer clothing company headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company is owned by Regent, L.P., an international private equity firm led by investor Michael Reinstein. The company was founded in 1978 by design ...

Juicy Couture Juicy Couture is an American casualwear and dress clothing brand based in Arleta, Los Angeles, California. Best known for their iconic velour tracksuits which became a luxury staple in the 2000s, the company was founded by Pamela Skaist-Levy and ...

Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño; 8 January 1939) is a Venezuelan-American fashion designer known for her personal style, and for dressing various First Ladies, including Jacqueline Onassis, Laura Bush, Michel ...

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

Bvlgari Bulgari (, ; stylized as BVLGARI) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1884 and known for its jewellery, watches, fragrances, accessories, and leather goods. While the majority of design, production and marketing is overseen and exe ...

, Bottega Veneta, and

Hermès Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, since ...

. File:Palacio de Hierro in 1921 (Postal of Mexico City).jpg, Postal of 1904 of the former Palacio del Hierro, Historic Center File:Palacio de Hierro in 1908 (Historic Center, Mexico City).jpg, The former Palacio de Hierro, Historic Center, in a painting of 1908. File:Palacio de Hierro (Mexico City, Historic Center) in 1912.jpg, Palacio de Hierro in Historic Center, photo taken in 1912, just before the fire and subsequent reconstruction. File:Postal of 1930 of the Palacio de Hierro, Centro Histórico (Mexico City).jpg, Postal of 1925 of the current Palacio de Hierro, Centro Histórico.

Locations

Palacio de Hierro format

Greater Mexico City

The modern flagship store is the 4-story, freestanding store in Polanco which the company gave the nickname "El Palacio de los Palacios", "the Palace of the Palaces"). The property originally was a mall, opened in 1997, including a Palacio store, and in 2015 the mall area was incorporated into the Palacio store as part of a total remodeling. The original store and historic flagship, opened in 1891, is still open along the north side of Venustiano Carranza street in the

Historic center of Mexico City The historic center of Mexico City ( es, Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México), also known as the Centro or Centro Histórico, is the central neighborhood in Mexico City, Mexico, focused on Zócalo or main plaza and extending in all directio ...

, one block south of the

Zócalo The Zócalo () is the common name of the main square in central Mexico City. Prior to the colonial period, it was the main ceremonial center in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Sq ...

(main square), between 5 de Febrero and 20 de Noviembre avenues. There are also full-line Palacio de Hierro stores at: *

Centro Coyoacán Centro Coyoacán, also known as Centro Comercial Coyoacán, was a shopping mall located on Av. Coyoacán and Av. Universidad in Mexico City, Mexico. The mall was closed on 19 September 2022 and the area will be incorporated into the adjacent Mít ...

, opened 1989, to be replaced in late 2022 by a new branch at the new, adjacent

Mítikah Mítikah, (in Spanish a homonym of "Mítica" i.e. "Mythical"), is a mixed-use complex with Mexico City's tallest skyscraper in the Benito Juárez borough of southern Mexico City across the Circuito Interior inner ring road from Coyoacán. It open ...

shopping center *

Centro Santa Fe Centro Santa Fe (English: Santa Fe Center or Santa Fe Mall), often incorrectly named "Centro Comercial Santa Fe", is a large enclosed shopping mall in the Santa Fe area of Cuajimalpa, Mexico City. Centro Santa Fe is the largest shopping cente ...

*Durango Avenue,

Colonia Roma Colonia Roma, also called La Roma or simply, Roma, is a district located in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City just west of the city's historic center, and in fact is no longer a single '' colonia'' (neighbourhood) but now two officially de ...

(freestanding store, opened 1958) *

Paseo Interlomas Paseo Interlomas is a shopping mall in the Interlomas edge city in Huixquilucan, Greater Mexico City. Three department stores anchor the mall: Liverpool, El Palacio de Hierro and Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is ...

, opened 2011 *

Perisur Perisur (also Centro Comercial Perisur) is a shopping mall located in the Coyoacán borough in southern Mexico City at the intersection of Insurgentes Avenue South and the Anillo Periférico, next to the UNAM main campus in Ciudad Universitari ...

, opened 1980 *

Plaza Satélite Plaza Satélite is a shopping mall in the northwest part of Greater Mexico City in Ciudad Satélite on the Anillo Periferico ring road. Opened on October 13, 1971, it was Mexico's first American-style shopping mall. It has over 240 stores and ser ...

, opened 1998

Elsewhere in Mexico

There are full-line Palacio de Hierro department stores in: *

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, in Andares shopping center, opened 2008 *

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

, in Paseo San Pedro, opened 2005 *

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

, in

Angelópolis Lifestyle Center Angelópolis Lifestyle Center, is an upscale shopping mall located in Puebla, Mexico. It covers more than 78,000 square meters. The mall was designed by the Sordo Madaleno group and developed as a public-private partnership. It is anchored by S ...

, opened 2002 * Querétaro, in

Antea LifeStyle Center Antea LifeStyle Center or simply Antea is a shopping mall in the city of Querétaro, Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico, which was opened in November 2013. , ''Franquicias hoy'', 5 July 2011 (Spanish). Construction began in June 2011 and the mall o ...

, opened 2014 *

Villahermosa Villahermosa ( , ; "Beautiful Village") is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Tabasco, and serves as the municipal seat (governing county) of the state. Located in Southeast Mexico, Villahermosa is an important city because o ...

, in Plaza Altabrisa, opened 2012 *

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, in Andamar Lifestyle Center

Other formats

Greater Mexico City Greater Mexico City refers to the conurbation around Mexico City, officially called Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico ( es, Zona metropolitana del Valle de México). It encompasses Mexico City itself and 60 adjacent municipalities of the S ...

has, in addition: *Boutique Palacio at Paseo Acoxpa, Tlalpan borough, opened 2010 *Casa Palacio at

Antara Polanco Antara Polanco, is an upscale open-air shopping center in Polanco, Mexico City, Mexico. Background The Antara Polanco shopping center opened its doors in 2006. Two years after the opening, phase 2 of the development project was launched with the ...

, opened 2006 *Casa Palacio at

, opened 2013 *Palacio Outlet at Punta Norte Premium Outlets Elsewhere: *

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

has 1 Casa Palacio and 1 Boutique Palacio, opened 2008 *

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

has 1 Casa Palacio in La Isla Shopping Village and 1 Boutique Palacio, opened 2010 * Lerma de Villada,

State of Mexico The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...

has 1 Palacio Outlet PorSiempreUriate11

References

External links

eCommerce SiteOfficial SitePhoto Gallery
{{Authority control 1850 in Mexico Retail companies established in 1850 Companies based in Mexico City

Palacio de Hierro El Palacio de Hierro (officially ''El Palacio de Hierro S.A. de C.V.''; en, The Iron Palace) is an upscale chain of department stores in Mexico. Its flagship store in Polanco, Mexico City, reopened in 2016 after an extensive renovation of US$300 ...

Mexican brands