What: Skims has entered the Spanish market through El Corte Inglés, opening its first points of sale at the Serrano store in Madrid and in Marbella, and selling its collections on the department store's website.

Why it is important: By securing Skims' first Spanish stores and its local online distribution, El Corte Inglés gains a high-visibility, social-first brand that can draw younger customers to its stores and website.

Skims, the intimate apparel and loungewear company founded by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede in 2018, has entered the Spanish retail market through El Corte Inglés. The brand is present at the Serrano Street store in Madrid and is now expanding to Marbella. The agreement also covers sales through El Corte Inglés' website; until now, Spanish customers could only buy Skims products through the company's European e-commerce platform, which has no dedicated page for Spain.

The move is part of a wider international push. Following its recent London opening, Skims set itself the goal mid-year of ending 2026 with 55 own stores, doubling its current network, and exceeding one hundred points of sale in 2027. It has recently expanded into the United Arab Emirates, with a presence in Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates, and into Mexico through local partners, with openings planned in Seoul, Delhi and Mumbai.

To support growth outside the United States, the company hired Natalie Buchberger, formerly of Tapestry, Zara and Snipes, to lead franchise expansion across EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Skims had 27 own stores in early September and reached a $5 billion valuation in November 2025 after a $225 million funding round.

IADS Notes: Skims' choice of El Corte Inglés as its entry point into Spain follows a wider pattern of digital-native brands using department stores to reach new markets, as when Nuuds moved into wholesale with Nordstrom to use the retailer's curation and customer engagement (Inside Retail, March 2026). The same partnership-led logic underpinned Marks & Spencer's US fashion debut, which relied on Nordstrom's stores and website rather than standalone openings to build awareness at lower risk (WWD, March 2026). The combined store-and-online format of the Skims agreement is consistent with El Corte Inglés' updated strategic plan, which treats physical stores as experiential differentiators and positions the website and app as the first point of contact for many customers (Press Release, July 2026). Celebrity-linked brands are also being used to draw traffic and engagement: Breuninger staged s.Oliver's campaign launch around an in-store appearance by Heidi Klum, with ticketed Meet & Greet access and an exclusive capsule pop-up (Press Release, September 2026). Reliance Retail acquired Priyanka Chopra Jonas's Anomaly for its brand equity and appeal to younger, digitally engaged consumers (India Economic Times, May 2026).

El Corte Inglés onboards Skims

What: Thailand has launched THIM, a government app for foreign visitors that brings immigration procedures and retail and travel privileges from partners including The Mall Group onto a single platform, recording more than 600,000 downloads since 1 August.

Why it is important: A state-run entry platform is becoming a retail channel, giving launch partners such as The Mall Group access to foreign visitors before they reach a store.

Thailand's Immigration Bureau, which operates under the Royal Thai Police, has launched THIM as a single digital gateway for foreign nationals, covering pre-arrival preparation, entry procedures, stays in the country, tourism information and visitor privileges. The bureau cites mounting pressure on airport and border checkpoint capacity, aiming to speed up procedures without compromising national security.

The app hosts the Thailand Digital Arrival Card and an Explore Thailand section. Queue booking, certificates of stay, visa extensions, 90-day reporting and visa on arrival are planned. Available since 1 August 2026, THIM has recorded more than 600,000 downloads and over 580,000 users.

Identity verification relies on NFC reading of passport chips, liveness detection and facial comparison. Biometric data is kept separate from other personal data, data is encrypted in transit and storage, and personal information falls under Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act. The app is hosted on the AWS Asia Pacific (Bangkok) Region.

Explore Thailand gives visitors coupons and privileges redeemable by QR or promotion code. Launch partners include The Mall Group, GrabTaxi, Wipay, True Corporation, The Minor Food Group, Minor International and Bangkok Dusit Medical Services. The bureau plans to add information on attractions, accommodation and activities.

IADS Notes: The Mall Group's presence among THIM's launch partners follows its payment partnership with UnionPay International, which combined acceptance for Chinese tourists with a year-long programme of discounts and cash coupons (The Nation, November 2025). The group has since built a loyalty base of more than seven million members, co-branded payment cards and multilingual AI shopping assistants (Retail News Asia, May 2026). The competition for inbound spending is intense: Thailand captured a large share of the Chinese tourists who turned away from Japan over Lunar New Year, while Japanese duty-free and luxury retailers absorbed the loss (South China Morning Post, February 2026). China's visa-free scheme, under which 77.7% of foreign arrivals entered the country in the first half of 2026, shows how entry policy has itself become a lever for inbound demand (The Diplomat, August 2026), although higher arrivals do not automatically translate into retail sales, a gap that privileges distributed at the point of entry are designed to address.

Thailand launches THIM as digital gateway for foreign visitors

What: El Corte Inglés has opened Sneakers Room, a dedicated sneaker and urban fashion space on the fifth floor of its Preciados store in Madrid, with the collections also available at Plaza Catalunya in Barcelona and online.

Why it is important: The concept brings specialist sneaker retail into the department store, positioning El Corte Inglés as a multi-brand destination for a younger, culture-driven customer.

El Corte Inglés has unveiled Sneakers Room, a new concept dedicated to sneaker culture and urban fashion, located on the fifth floor of its Preciados store in Madrid. The collections are also available at the Plaza Catalunya store in Barcelona and through the group's online platform. The space is designed to offer a specialised shopping experience in a category that is gaining ground within urban fashion.

The assortment combines exclusive releases, classic models and new arrivals from leading national and international brands, including Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Asics, Puma, Salomon, Saucony, Hoka, On, Crocs, Vans, Jordan, Keen and Reebok. The selection spans chunky models, clogs and contemporary designs alongside retro and classic silhouettes for running, basketball and tennis, complemented by a selection of urban fashion items.

Founded in 1940 by Ramón Areces and César Rodríguez González and headquartered in Madrid, El Corte Inglés is one of Spain's leading retail groups. To accelerate its digital transformation and consolidate its omnichannel model, the company increased its investment by 9.4% in fiscal year 2025, to €577 million.

IADS Notes: Sneakers Room builds on El Corte Inglés' earlier sports-led repositioning in Madrid, where the group relaunched its Puerta del Sol store as a dedicated sports centre with Adidas, Nike and Under Armour shop-in-shops and a ground floor built around sneaker trends (Modaes, January 2026). Other department stores are also reorganising footwear and active categories around curated, destination-style spaces. Bloomingdale's has grown its men's shoe floor by balancing casual sneakers with formal and luxury styles across price points (Footwear News, February 2026). John Lewis is rolling out Sports & Wellness departments organised by activity rather than product category, with brands such as Nike and Brooks alongside gait analysis and run clubs (Press Release, August 2026). The focus on sneaker culture also responds to a generational gap: department store customer bases skew older, while Gen Z shopping habits are shaped by social media and digital channels (Retail Wire, October 2025).

El Corte Inglés increases its commitment to urban fashion with the Sneakers Room space in its Preciados store