Continuing a trend toward upscale living in the north, luxury department store chain El Palacio de Hierro is coming to Mérida, according to sources close to Foro Mérida.
The Iron Palace, as it would be called in English, is comparable to Neiman Marcus or Bergdorf Goodman in the United States.
Mérida has no shortage of malls, but each new project appears more upscale than before. Most recently, The Harbor at Via Montejo and La Isla at Cabo Norte in 2018 were meant to appeal to the influx of loyal well-heeled shoppers moving here from other parts of the country.
Mexico’s most famous — and Latin America’s largest — department store would anchor a three-story mall on the Periférico or Avenida Garcia Lavín, near the gleaming City 32 mixed-use complex that opened earlier this year. It could also adjoin one of the existing newer malls, which lack unique anchor stores.
El Palacio de Hierro had once been the rumored centerpiece of The Harbor mall, but in the end, they got Chapur instead. Liverpool, a mid-to-high-end retailer, anchors La Isla. Both of those stores already existed locally.
But a Palacio de Hierro would be Yucatán’s first. The closest branch today is in Cancún’s Fashion Harbour mall, over four hours away.
More information is expected in a few months, a Foro Mérida contributor reported. The website, which contains rumors and inside information on construction projects, could not ascertain a timeline or its source of financing.
About the store
The flagship Palacio de Hierro in Mexico City traces its roots to 1879 when a team of merchants planned a department store inspired by Le Bon Marché in Paris, Saks in New York City, and Harrods in London.
They hired the Mexican architect Ignacio de la Hidalga in 1888 to build what would become Mexico City’s first iron-and-steel building.
According to lore, during construction, passersby asked, “What iron palace are they building?” The name stuck.
El Palacio de Hierro carries exclusive lines from Gucci, Pucci, Tiffany, Ferragamo, Prada, Zegna, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, and Hermès.
