The store occupies a coveted location in the mall and features a stunning façade spanning more than 100 metres, both of which ensure that the new Zara takes centre stage in one of Peru's most prominent shopping centres.

For shoppers in Peru, Zara offers fashion collections for women, men and children which are custom tailored for the Southern Hemisphere, given the difference in climatic conditions from the Northern Hemisphere. With its arrival in Peru, Zara builds on this exclusively-chosen Southern Hemisphere collection, which it also offers at its stores in Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Zara thus adapts the latest trends to garments and fabrics suitable for the fashion campaign specific to each hemisphere’s season, in collections which are constantly refreshed with new items landing in stores twice weekly.

Inditex stores in Spain today began selling a music player to raise funds for the fight against AIDS. The playbutton was produced by Inditex as part of its cooperation agreement with Médicos Sin Fronteras to fund a project to fight AIDS through the "Positive Generation” campaign. The device, which records and plays music in MP3 format, comes pre-loaded with 17 songs by several international recording artists (Alejandro Sanz, Antonio Carmona, Andrés Calamaro, Carlos Vives and Juan Luis Guerra, among others) and African musicians and choruses (Jimila, Sipepa, Silethemba and Vusisizwe).

The playbutton is sold at Inditex's nearly 2,000 stores in Spain with a price tag of 10 euros, with all proceeds going to fund MSF aid programmes for HIV-positive mothers and children in Zimbabwe.  

The songs may also be downloaded from any Inditex retailer’s website, all of which offer more information on the project along with details of the complicated musical production process carried out by Javier Limón in Zimbabwe.

Médicos Sin Fronteras in 2012 will implement its prevention, treatment and healthcare assistance programme for HIV-positive mothers, pregnant women and children in Zimbabwe’s Tsholotsho region. The goal is to provide appropriate services for fighting HIV and its consequences among the population in a rural area of limited resources, supporting the activities of Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health.

Inditex financed the manufacture of the MP3 players set to land in stores today. The playbutton looks like a wearable pin-back button or badge and measures just 4.5 cm. in diameter and 6 mm. in width. 

 It is compatible with standard earphones (not included) and offers storage capacity of up to 100 Mb. The device is rewritable and includes a USB connection cable, which is also used to re-charge the battery.  

Inditex’s net sales totalled 9,709 million euros in the first nine months of fiscal 2011 – from 1 February to 31 October --, an increase of 10% from the same period a year earlier. Net income stood at 1,302 million euros, an increase of 10%. Gross profit rose by 9% to 5,784 million euros, leaving the gross margin at 59.6%. Inditex created 9,678 new jobs in the past 12 months. The Group’s workforce totalled 106,251 people at 31 October 2011.

Key figures (first nine months of 2011)
(millions of euros)	3rd Quarter 2011	3rd Quarter 2010	Change 11/10
Net sales	9,709	8,866	10%
Gross profit Gross margin	5,784 59.6%	5,307 59.9%	9%
EBITDA	2,217	2,061	8%
EBIT	1,679	1,565	7%
Net income	1,302	1,179	10%

Inditex continued the pace of its openings in the first nine months, unveiling 358 new stores in 45 markets. Consequently, as of 31 October 2011, the Group had 5,402 stores and a retail footprint spanning 78 markets, after inaugurating its first stores in Australia earlier in the year. The company’s global multi-brand strategy paid off by delivering significant penetration of recently-opened markets by Inditex’s younger formats. Bershka launched in six new countries and Oysho in four, while Pull&Bear, Stradivarius and Zara Home each entered in three new markets.

Following the end of the third quarter, Inditex introduced the Group's first stores in Taiwan, South Africa and Azerbaijan, building on its global presence and extending its reach across five continents. Georgia and Peru are among markets set to welcome their first Inditex stores in coming months.

The pace of store launches was particularly intense in China, with 79 openings in the first nine months. The Group now has 250 stores in China, in 42 cities. All Inditex concepts present in the Chinese fashion market opened stores during the period, with two new formats commencing operations: Oysho (nine stores) and Zara Home (four stores).

Other noteworthy growth markets, in addition to China, included Japan, where, in addition to eight new Zara locations, Bershka debuted its first four Japanese stores. These included a flagship store in the heart of Tokyo's bustling Shibuya district.  Similarly, Inditex enjoyed a remarkable expansion in South Korea in the first nine months, with eight new locations, including the country's first Pull&Bear, Bershka and Stradivarius stores.

Store openings among Inditex concepts.  Other regions of the world also saw noteworthy openings. Highlights included Germany's first Bershka, located at a coveted spot on Tauentzienstraße, one of Berlin’s busiest shopping areas. German shoppers also flocked to new Zara Home shops in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Hamburg and a new Massimo Dutti in Münster.

As for Pull&Bear, highlights included its first stores in the Netherlands, in The Hague and Tilburg, followed by a third Rotterdam store. The latter is the chain's largest store in the world and is a benchmark for environmental sustainability, inspired by the Group's commitment to opening eco-efficient stores.

Meanwhile, Uterqüe chose its first outlet in Palma de Mallorca, at the heart of Paseo de Born, as the venue for revealing its revamped store image, while Stradivarius embarked upon a remarkable expansion in Poland, inaugurating 15 stores in the first nine months. In the same period, Oysho began expanding in Ukraine with its first locations in Kiev, Odessa and Donetsk.

Online launches. By the end of the third quarter of 2011, all Inditex retailers had arrived on the e-commerce scene, thanks to the launch on 6 September of online stores for Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterqüe (Zara and Zara Home have had online shops since 2010 and 2007, respectively). Online operations commenced in a total of 15 European markets. As of the aforementioned date, countries with access to at least some of the retailers' online stores included: Germany, Austria, Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland. In addition, Zara’s online store premiered in two new markets, the United States (7 September) and Japan (20 October).

Beginning of the fourth quarter of 2011. Store sales in local currencies between 1 November and 11 December rose by 11%.

]]> Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:14:33 +0100 http://www.inditex.com/en/press/other_news/extend/00000899 http://www.inditex.com/en/press/other_news/extend/00000899 The fashion label Pull&Bear opens its flagship store today in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The property, located at Lijnbaan 54, one of the main shopping streets of the city, has over 1,000 square metres of retail space set out on two floors, which makes it the chain’s largest selling point. For its premiere in Rotterdam, Pull&Bear, part of the Inditex Group, one of the leading fashion groups worldwide, launches a unique eco-efficient store.

The store incorporates sustainable and energy efficient measures which allow it to aspire to receive the Platinum LEED certification, the U.S. stamp for sustainable architecture considered the most demanding worldwide. The final result, a store that consumes 30% less energy and a 40% less water compared to the average annual consumption of a conventional store.

This opening is part of the environmental awareness project of the brand, Pull&Bear Ecologize-Me, which includes the incorporation of eco-efficient features in stores and ecological awareness actions for employees and customers. Pull&Bear’s first eco-efficient store opened in 2010 in Gran Via, Madrid, a space that has received the LEED Gold certification. For 2020, Inditex expects all of its facilities to be eco-efficient.

The playbutton, whose manufacture was also financed by Inditex, will go on sale on 15 December with a price tag of 10 euros (which will be entirely donated to the project). It  comes pre-loaded with 17 songs recorded by international recording artists and African musicians and choral groups. The playbutton includes music by Alejandro Sanz, Juan Luis Guerra, Antonio Carmona, Andrés Calamaro and Carlos Vives, who recorded songs with Zimbabwean choral groups Jimila, Sipepa, Silethemba and Vusisizwe.

The project funded by Positive Generation donations will launch in 2012 in the Zimbabwean region of Tsholotsho, and will combine prevention efforts with treatment and healthcare, primarily for HIV-positive mothers, pregnant women and children. The goal is to expand access to services for fighting HIV and its consequences to the population in a rural area of limited resources, supporting the activities of Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health.

Playbutton

The playbutton is a device for recording and playing music in MP3 format. It looks like a pin-back button badge and measures 4.5 cm. in diameter and just 6 mm. in width. The player can store up to 100 MB, equivalent to 70 minutes of music. It is rewritable and includes a USB connection cable which is also used to recharge the battery.

Zara in South Africa offers a customized range of apparel for women, men and kids. Its collections are tailored to the country's climatic conditions, which are distinct from those in the northern hemisphere. Zara sells the latest trends in garments and fabrics most appropriate for the season, and constantly updates its collections by delivering new merchandise to stores twice weekly. 

]]> Thu, 10 Nov 2011 09:20:15 +0100 http://www.inditex.com/en/press/other_news/extend/00000893 http://www.inditex.com/en/press/other_news/extend/00000893 Zara has landed on the Taiwan retail scene with an inaugural store at Taipei 101. Taipei 101, one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, is an iconic landmark on the Taipei skyline.

The new Zara has a retail floor area of more than 1,500 square metres spread over two floors displaying the Woman, Man and Kids Autumn-Winter collections. A second opening is scheduled for the next few weeks on Taipei’s Zhong Xiao East Road, one of the city's busiest streets.

Delivery options

Garment prices are identical online and in-store and there are three classes of delivery: Standard, Express, and Defined Date Delivery. Shoppers opting for standard delivery will receive their orders at home within two to four days. Similarly, they can opt to pick up their orders at the store of their choice within a period of three to five days. With the express delivery, the orders will be delivered within 24-48 hours (except specific areas). The Defined Date Delivery is a special option in which shoppers can choose the date and time of delivery at no extra charge. Regardless of the selected delivery option, product orders will be wrapped in purpose-designed eco-friendly packaging which keeps purchased garments in an optimal state until delivery.

Payments can be made using major credit cards, including Visa, Master Card, JCB and American Express.

Exchanges and returns

The exchange and return policy is identical to that offered in-store: during a 30-day period and unwanted items can be picked up at home or returned to Zara stores. Zara has hired a logistics operator with a proven track record in the field to handle nationwide distribution.

Site users can also call toll-free customer service or write to a dedicated e-mail address for help with order-related queries or problems.

User-friendly

The www.zara.com website has been designed to make online shopping as consumer friendly as possible. The garment search function has been enhanced by a number of filter options (by garment characteristics, colors, sizes, prices, etc.). Shoppers can also find specific items by reference number, garment description, category, etc.

Shoppers can view their shopping baskets at any time while browsing, editing their product selections right away. Shoppers wishing to pick up their orders at a conveniently located store can use a store search and mapping tool to automatically locate the nearest Zara store.

The website displays visual content of the collections with photos, lookbooks, videos, and a fashion collaboration section called "People!" so that shoppers can get an overall impression of the current range; moreover, this content can be shared on the various social networks. Users can also sign up for a newsletter to stay abreast of the latest fashion trends.

The www.zara.com website has been designed to ensure shopping compatibility using any of the browsers available in the marketplace.

Dear Japan

To mark the launch of its e-commerce platform in Japan, Zara has commissioned photographs of each of the country's prefectures. Katsura Komiyama, Daisuke Ito, Mutsumi Makino, Dan Abbe are just some of the 28 photographers participating in the ‘Dear Japan’ campaign, comprising 47 photos which can be viewed on Zara’s Japan website beginning Thursday, October 20th.

Internet and social networks

The Japan online platform is Zara’s first in the Asian market. In Europe, shoppers can already buy online in 16 countries. Zara recently celebrated the first anniversary of its online shopping launch on September 2, followed by the U.S. launch on September 7th. With over 10 million Facebook fans around the world, Zara is also very active in social networks and will look to deliver fresh information of its collections to the similarly active Japanese online community through its Facebook page, Japanese Twitter account, and other local social networks.

Zara in Japan

Zara’s business presence in Japan dates back to 1998 when it opened it first store in Shibuya, Tokyo. Tokyo was the Spanish group’s first location choice in Asia, stemming from the important position the city holds in the world's fashion industry. Today Zara operates 71 stores in over 35 Japanese cities, with flagship stores in high-street fashion areas of major cities such as Shibuya, Harajuku, Ginza, Shinjuku, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, or Fukuoka.

Business model

Zara is known for its flexibility and swift response to emerging trends. With a creative team of over 300 professionals, the whole design process at Zara is centered around its customers’ wishes and desires. The strategy is characterized by continual range updates: new items hit the stores twice a week. Zara pays close attention to the design of its stores, store windows and shop interiors, locating them in the top locations on the busiest shopping streets.

Zara is part of the Inditex Group, one of the world’s largest fashion retailers with over 5,150 stores in 78 countries across all five continents. In addition to Zara, Inditex has seven other fashion concepts: Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterqüe.

In the 2011 ranking, Interbrand highlights out the constant renewal of the latest fashion trends offered by Zara, its logistics system as well as its presence on the Internet and the social networks.

Interbrand is the world´s leading brand consultancy and its ‘Best Global Brands’ rankings one of the key indicators to measure brand value and influence.