Sociedad Española de Precios Únicos, S.A. (SEPU) was Spain's first

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

. SEPU was founded in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

9 January 1934, by

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

citizens of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

origins, Henry Reisembach and Edouard Worms; it later opened branches in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

. Their slogan was "Quien calcula compra en SEPU" ("Who calculates buys at SEPU"). During the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

, SEPU was attacked by the

Falangist Falangism () was the political ideology of three political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española, the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS), and afterwa ...

newspaper '' Arriba'', and its premises were physically attacked by Falangists and their sympathizers. SEPU was purchased in 2000 by Australian retailer Rodd Partridge; it was a failing company at the time. The company closed in 2002 because of previous management's massive undisclosed accumulated tax debts. These could not be negotiated, and the company was forced to close. The popular SEPU stores were full of customers for the closing-down sale, police had to erect barricades to control the crowds.

Notes

References

* * González, Isidro (2004). Los judíos y la Segunda República. 1931-1939. Madrid: Alianza Editorial. . Department stores of Spain Defunct retail companies Retail companies established in 1934 Retail companies disestablished in 2002 Spanish companies established in 1934 Defunct companies of Spain Spanish companies disestablished in 2002 Defunct department stores {{spain-stub