Fábricas de Francia () was a Mexican department store founded in 1878 in Guadalajara as a lingerie store by 3 French immigrants. In 1988, the

El Puerto de Liverpool El Puerto de Liverpool (officially ''S.A.B. de Liverpool, S.A.B. de C.V.'') is a Mexican company that consists of commercial, financial, and real estate operations. The commercial area operates the department store chains Liverpool and Suburbia, ...

group bought the chain. By 2018, there were 41 Fábricas stores across Mexico. In 2018 and 2019, El Puerto de Liverpool phased out the ''Fábricas de Francia'' brand and all stores were converted to either the ''

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

'' or ''

Suburbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

'' brand, except for three that were closed permanently.

History

Fábricas de Francia was founded as a

lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashio ...

store in Guadalajara in 1878 by Disiderio Bonnafoux, José Chapuy and Léon Fortoul, immigrants from the

Ubaye Valley The Ubaye Valley is an area in the Alpes de Haute-Provence ''département'', in the French Alps, having approximately 7,700 residents. Its residents are called ''Ubayens''. Its principal town is the ''sous-préfecture'' of Barcelonnette. 350px, A ...

and

Barcelonnette Barcelonnette (; , also ; obsolete ) is a Communes of France, commune of France and a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Departments of France, department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is l ...

in southeastern France. The original store was at the northeast corner of San Francisco street (today, Avenida Juárez) and Del Carmen (today, Avenida 16 de Septiembre), a mansion () of typical Spanish Colonial architecture. With its growing success, the building was expanded and remodeled in 1898-9 in Parisian style (

Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly Eclecticism in architecture, eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts originating in the Second French Empire. It was characterized by elements of many differe ...

. It became the largest department store in the city, surpassing ''Ciudad de México'', La Ciudad de París and Nuevo Mundo. The Parisian style in architecture was less appreciated by 1948, and the once-impressive ''palacio'' was demolished in order to expand Juárez Avenue. The store opened its doors again, now in a modern-style building, which was rebuilt again in the early 1980s after an extensive fire. The façade that existed at the end of 1990 is the same today, though the store is now a branch of

, as in 2018-9 the owners

group converted 38 of the 41 ''Fábricas de Francia'' stores to either ''Liverpool'' or ''

'' formats, and permanently closed three others. File:Guadalajara, c. 1905.jpg, The original store in 1905 after the 1899 remodel. Fábricas de Francia, Zumpango (1).JPG, Fábricas de Francia

Zumpango Zumpango is a municipality located in the northeastern part of the state of Mexico in Zumpango Region. It lies directly north of Mexico City within the Greater Mexico City urban area. The municipal seat, Zumpango de Ocampo, lies near Lake Zumpango ...

Fábricas de Francia, Zumpango (2).JPG, Fábricas de Francia Zumpango

Stores

Source
''Tiendas'' ("Stores"), Liverpool website
an
p. 43, 2022 Annual Report
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References

{{Department stores in Mexico Defunct department stores of Mexico Retail companies established in 1878 1878 establishments in Mexico Mexican brands El Puerto de Liverpool Lists of department store branches by company