Ebrard and Liverpool? The great-uncle of this ‘corcholata’ founded the emblematic department store

Written in NATIONAL he 6/23/2023 3:41 p.m.

The Liverpool department store has an unexpected relationship with Marcelo Ebrard Casaubonone of the now candidates for the Presidency of the Republic for Morena, whose great-uncle founded The Port of Liverpool in 1847.

Currently, Liverpool defines itself as the department store chain with the largest coverage throughout the country. In accordance with The CEO, operates 415 stores of various formats, ranging from department stores to boutiques in various parts of the country. But what do they have to do with Marcelo Ebrard?

Is Marcelo Ebrard’s great-uncle the founder of Liverpool?

Yeah. Jean Baptiste Ebrardthe great-uncle of Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón, current candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, founded Liverpool in 1847, as detailed by the same former chancellor in his book The way of Mexico.

“From 1820 onwards there was a huge diaspora from Barcelonette (France) to Mexico. In fact, one of the drivers of that exodus from the Alps to Tenochtitlan was his (sic) great-uncle, Jean Baptiste Ebrard, who in 1847 founded El Puerto of Liverpool”, says Marcelo Ebrard in his book.

Since the beginning of the 1940s, Jean-Baptiste Ebrard settled in a clothes drawer in the El Parián market, located in what is currently the Plaza de la Constitución or Zócalo in the capital.

The El Parían market was built of masonry and housed boxes of all kinds of trade, such as clothing and fruits and vegetables. However, in 1843 it was demolished, displacing the merchants to the streets of the city center, according to the historian Alejandro Rosas.

Jean-Baptiste Ebrard began by selling ribbons, shoelaces, and lace. He bought his merchandise in different parts of Europe, but he always shipped them to Mexico from the port of liverpoolfrom there he took the name of his drawer, which went to the department store.

In 1847, finally he was able to establish himself in a small place in the center of the capital. At that time, she was dedicated to selling black and white fabrics, because mourning was very strict at the time and women used to wear dark colors after the age of 45.

The inauguration of great-uncle Ebrard’s place coincided with the invasion of the US army, which, far from affecting the merchants, favored them, since foreign soldiers used to pay in cash, says historian Alejandro Rosas.

Over time, El Puerto de Liverpool and its owner, Jean Baptiste Ebrard, became wholesalers, with which they managed to have stores in Puebla and Guadalajara.

Marcelo Ebrard recounts that his grandfather came to work in a luxury shopping center between the Zócalo and 16 de Septiembre Street, which later became what we know today as the Grand Hotel in Mexico City. *_With information from National Geographic and Marcelo Ebrard, The way of Mexico