Corvin Department Store (Budapest)

 store / shop  Add category

The Corvin Department Store first opened its doors for customers some 75 years ago on 1 March 1926 in Blaha Lujza Square. The Corvin was founded by the Hamburg-based company of M. J. Emden Söhne with a joint stock of one million pengos (the currency of the time). Miksa Lewin, a German businessman, was the vice-president of the public limited company as well as the first head of the department store. The department store was built next to the National Theatre. The Corvin was based on the plans of Zoltán Reiss drafted in classicist style with a palace-like façade. Despite the façade appearing to hide a single floor, there were four floors behind it. The huge windows covered the façade from top to bottom with almost invisible wooden inserts separating the floors. A hall of two floors with a glass ceiling greeted the customers after entering. The interior surfaces and spaces were decorated with the statuesque works of Fülöp Beck Ö. and Szigfrid Pongrácz.


The department store attracted a wide range of customers with the help of numerous factors such as its shop-windows facing three different streets, its central location, moderate price level, and frequent sales. It was also easily accessible for customers arriving from the countryside due to the nearby Eastern- and Western Railway Stations. Customers spent hours in the department store without being forced to buy anything. They were entertained by a cheap and good-quality restaurant, a café, transportation ticket office and a photo shop. Shopping meant entertainment at the same time. People flocked to the fashion shows and art exhibitions organized in the department store. Salon music provided customers with a pleasant background for their shopping spree every afternoon. The staff was equally polite with everyone. Following the construction of the department store, the junction of Rákóczi Street and the Grand Boulevard became the busiest one in the capital therefore it is no surprise that the first traffic lights of the country were installed here on 23 December 1926.


The first escalator in Hungary set up in 1931 inside the department store further enhanced its charm and appeal. In 1930 the Képes Naptár of the newspaper Pesti Hírlap praised the department store as follows: "This single building encompasses an entire, small town and it has become the leading fashion store in Europe due to the development and efforts of the management. Apart from thousands of people from the capital polishing its doorsteps every day, it also serves as a meeting point for customers from the countryside all too eager to buy great value at a great price as well as for foreigners well-aware of the fact that the fashion industry of Budapest does not lag behind Paris or London in terms of taste, quality and conscience…Since as the fashion of Europe is set in Paris, the fashion of the capital is dictated by Corvin with vast expertise."

The department store has managed to maintain its popularity until today. The privatisation of Corvin started in 1992 and its process of renewal is expected to gain momentum soon.

Editor: Csongor Kiss
Source: www.mtmuhely.hu