The founder of Zara became the richest man in the world. Clothing from Zara, and the company's success story

According to the Forbes list of billionaires, which is calculated in real time, the richest businessman on the planet is the founder of the Zara chain of stores, Amancio Ortega, who has surpassed Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Zara store (Photo: REUTERS 2015)

Spanish entrepreneur Amancio Ortega, o founder of the Zara chain of stores, on the basis of which the world's largest clothing retailer Inditex, came out on top in the Forbes World Billionaires Ranking, displacing Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Ortega with a fortune of $79.7 billion became the leader in real-time versions of the rating , which takes into account daily changes in stock prices.

According to Forbes, over the past 24 hours, the Spanish businessman's fortune has grown by 5.2%, or $3.9 billion. As of October 23, 2015, Bill Gates ($78.1 billion) is in second place in this ranking: his fortune is day increased by 0.7%, or by $572 million. Third place was taken by investor Warren Buffett with an estimated fortune of $64.4 billion.​

A similar rating is also maintained by Bloomberg (Bloomberg Billionaires Index), however, according to its estimates, as of October 22, Ortega was in second place with a fortune of $75.7 billion, and Bill Gates remained in first place, and Bloomberg estimates the fortune of the Microsoft founder much higher - $83 .8 billion

In the 2015 Forbes annual ranking, Ortega ranks fourth with a fortune of $64.5 billion, followed by Bill Gates ($79.2 billion), followed by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim with a fortune of $77.1 billion, and Warren Buffett ($72.7) rounds out the top three. billion).

Amancio Ortega was born into the family of a railway worker in the town of Busdongo in northwestern Spain in March 1936, six months before the start of the civil war in the country. When the child was only three months old, the family moved to the town of Tolosa in the Basque Country because the father got a job there as a station master.

The Ortega family was considered poor, and at age 13, Amancio dropped out of high school and began working to help provide for the family. By that time, he had already been living with his parents for a year in La Coruña, in the province of Galicia: in 1948, his father was sent back to the northwestern part of the country.

Amancio's first place of work was a small atelier called Camiseria Gala, where he held the position of sales assistant (essentially, a messenger). At 17, he went to work for a small chain of haberdashery stores, La Maja, which owned three stores and a warehouse in the area. Also starting as an assistant, Ortega subsequently became a salesman, a traveling salesman and, finally, a manager. In 1960, a girl named Rosalia Mera took over the assistant position once held by Amancio. In 1966, the couple got married.

During these same years, Ortega, having gained the necessary commercial experience at La Maja, began thinking about opening his own business. The first employees of his company - salesmen, seamstresses - were members of his family and his young bride. From the first years of the business, Ortega formulated a principle that he still uses today: creating fashionable and high-quality, but at the same time cheap clothes by reducing textile costs and quickly realizing the product, from designer sketches to the counter.

In 1975, Ortega opened the first Zara brand store in La Coruña, which is still in operation today. Within a few years, the chain of ready-to-wear stores covered the whole of Spain, and by the mid-1980s he decided to diversify the business, starting to work for different categories of the population. In 1985, on the basis of Zara, Ortega created the Inditex holding, which subsequently united all the businessman’s brands. Over the next few years, Inditex included companies such as Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Pull&Bear and others. With revenue of €18.1 billion and net profit of €2.51 billion at the end of 2014, Inditex is the largest group in the fashion industry.

At the same time, Ortega carried out international expansion: in 1988 he opened the first Zara store in Portugal, a year later in New York, and since 1990 his stores have appeared in Paris, the Middle East and Japan. The first Zara store in Russia opened in 2003. As of October 2015, 86 Zara stores were opened in Russia out of 2.1 thousand in total worldwide. The holding’s eight main brands are represented on the Russian market; 465 of the company’s 6.7 thousand retail outlets operate in Russia.

A record holder for copying items from the catwalk, a “Spanish success story”, this is how the media characterize the Zara brand. The last characteristic, by the way, belongs to CNN. Zara belongs to the so-called “democratic brands”, that is, its clothes can be purchased at very affordable prices. Today, Zara stores are located in many countries around the world and are incredibly popular.

Zara success story

The first Zara clothing store was opened in 1975 in the Spanish port city of La Coruña. The store offered relatively cheap copies of items from the runway, with prices for such items starting at $5. The founder of the store, and now a billionaire, was Amancio Ortega, who had previously worked as an apprentice in an atelier, sewing shirts, and then in a haberdashery store.

Of course, Amancio Ortega, like many other brand founders, worked hard to create and sell Zara clothing, but what is the secret of Zara’s success? After all, they reached billions of dollars in volume in a short period of time! And Zara's success came with Jose Maria Casteiano, an information technology specialist who previously worked in the information technology department of Aegon Espana's, and then was the financial director of the Spanish division of ConAgra. When she came to Zara, she proposed a completely new technology for developing and producing things.

Typically, it took about six months to create and promote an item to store shelves. At Zara, things are different. Zara employs not one, but 400 designers at once, and it takes them from 4 to 6 weeks to create a new model, and up to 2 weeks to improve old ones. Six months and two weeks, that's the difference! Plus affordable prices. Plus fashionable things, don’t forget that Zara follows what’s happening on the world’s catwalks.

The assortment of Zara stores is updated every two weeks, which makes customers come back again and again. There have also been cases where, before the arrival of a new collection, Zara stores had absolutely nothing left from the previous ones; everything was sold out. “Z-Day” is what they call the days of delivery of goods in Zara stores.

The first store outside Spain was opened in 1988 in the Portuguese city of Porto. Then, throughout the 1990s, Zara stores opened in many European countries: Belgium, Sweden, Greece. This process was especially successful in France, where Zara entered the market in 1990. Then Zara stores were opened in Mexico, Israel, Turkey, Japan, and Malta. And also in Eastern European countries such as Poland and Ukraine.

Another advantage of Zara is that their clothes are practically not produced in Asian countries. The main production is concentrated in Spain and Portugal, namely in northern Portugal and Galicia, where production power is much cheaper than in the rest of Europe.

Zara produces both women's and men's clothing.

Zara woman – clothes made from high-quality and natural fabrics. Clothes for business women.

The Zara Basic line uses fabrics mixed with synthetic materials; such clothing is cheaper and available to a wider range of consumers.

Zara produces a children's clothing line - Zara Kids.

And clothes for teenagers - Zara TRF. Models from this collection are distinguished by their brightness and unexpected solutions.

Today Zara is part of the Inditex Group, along with brands such as Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Stradivarius and Bershka.Sxt. The Inditex Group Corporation is owned by Zara founder Amancio Ortega. Amancio Ortega is today the richest man in Spain. He leads a very private lifestyle, practically does not communicate with the press, and according to rumors, he even chose to leave the meeting with the Crown Prince of Spain, Felipe.

Amancio Ortega was married twice. His first wife was Rosalia Mera, whom he met while working in a haberdashery store. They were colleagues. They have two children - Sandro and Marcus. Marcus was born with a serious illness, which, according to rumors, was also one of the reasons for the breakup of the family in 1986. Rosalia Mera is to this day the second shareholder of the Inditex Group corporation after her ex-husband. Ortega's second wife was his secretary, Flora Perez Marcote, and they have a daughter.

Every year, Zara designers develop about 10,000 new designs, and today there are more than 1,500 Zara stores in the world. However, there are scandals, as Zara was accused of placing a swastika on one of its bags; the bag was soon removed from store shelves. There is also envy; many brands do not like Zara. But nothing is stopping Zara from developing and conquering more and more markets.

This year, all continents experienced an unusually warm autumn, which everyone was happy about, except clothing stores, where the autumn collection remained untouched by customers. Most retail chains in the fashion world suffered losses, but not Zara - this company was rescued by the “instant fashion” system.

Probably everyone knows the Zara brand. The chain's stores, like McDonald's, have spread throughout the world and are located on the central streets of the largest cities in all corners of the planet. With more than 2,000 stores on every continent, Zara is one of the largest clothing retailers in the world.

Over the course of several years of stunning success, Zara has grown into the largest textile concern Inditex, which includes the brands Zara, Pull and Bear, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, Uterqüe and the footwear division Tempe.

In total, Inditex has 6,460 retail outlets around the world, employing more than 120,000 people.

"Instant Fashion"

Zara revolutionized the fashion world and the textile industry, giving birth to the very concept of “instant fashion.” What is it and what is unique about such a business scheme?

In most textile companies, the clothing production cycle takes approximately 8 months - this period includes design development, fabric search, fabric dyeing, model sewing, and collection arrival in the store. And at Zara this process takes place in just 2 weeks. Inditex has its own design team of about 400 professionals. They create inexpensive clothing designs in a very short time based on the latest high fashion trends. Such a system allows you to quickly update the entire assortment of stores, quickly remove unpopular models from production and refine the design of existing ones at the request of consumers.

Thus, Zara always has its finger on the pulse of fashion, being one of the first to respond to new trends and customer wishes. Customers are looking forward to the days of new deliveries to stores - “Z-Day”. It happens that clothes are swept off the shelves in a few hours, and the updated collection is completely sold out. No wonder Louis Vuitton fashion director Daniel Piette described Zara as “perhaps the most innovative and disruptive retail chain in the world.”

All retailers in the world dream of annual traffic like Zara's. For example, on average, an average store in Spain, located on one of the central streets of the city, expects to see one customer 3 times a year, and for Zara this figure is 17 times a year!

Inditex is one of the few companies that has resisted the temptation to move all clothing production to countries with cheap labor. Less than a quarter - 24% of production - is produced in China, Morocco, Bangladesh and Turkey. The rest of the products are produced in the north of Spain and Portugal.

But, no matter where the item is made, every item in the Inditex product range passes through Spain. Designers and experts in the company's main studio in Arteixo (Galicia) first check the quality of products, and only then send the goods throughout the retail network, including China.

A similar system applies to the installation of stores and brand displays. All materials go through the main office.
Of course, this requires a large staff - 6,000 people from 30 countries work in the studio, factory and warehouses in Arteixo.

Business development

The secret of Inditex's success is quick response and smooth communication between designers, factories and store managers.

In fact, the store manager, who sends reports to Inditex headquarters twice a week based on sales data and customer surveys, is a key figure in a successful business scheme. This is why Inditex managers receive much higher salaries than their competitors, as well as large bonuses at the end of the month.

Zara stores have not needed advertising for a long time, so the money saved on promotion is invested in opening new stores and in the development of projects and brands such as Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Stradivarius and Bershka.

While its main competitor, H&M, runs expensive advertising campaigns, Zara prefers to invest in high-quality, expensive storefronts that rival those of luxury brands such as Dior and Prada.

However, Zara has a somewhat dismissive attitude not only towards advertising, but also towards journalists. It was not the first attempt to get comments from Zara representatives - several times, in response to inquiries and calls from the editors to the company's main office, public relations representatives responded that Inditex's corporate policy does not allow comments. However, Zara experts still reported several important facts specifically for New Retail.

According to Inditex representatives, in the nine months of 2014 (from February to October), retail sales, including the turnover of the Zara online store, increased by 10.5%. And in the period from November 1 to December 8, sales growth was 14%.

As for business in Russia, according to Inditex CEO Pablo Isla, it is developing as expected, and the company does not plan significant changes in the market development strategy.

Regarding the recent closure of the Zara flagship store on Tverskaya, representatives of the fashion brand note that “its commercial activities were absorbed by the activity of other Zara stores nearby.” However, as previously reported by the media, Zara representatives did not come to an agreement with the tenants on a new amount for rent on Tverskaya Street.

At the origins of the brand

The history of the global brand began, as often happens, from the desire of one simple, poor person, gifted with willpower, patience, and organizational skills, to get ahead and offer the world something new.

Today the founder of the network, Amancio Ortega Gaona, is the wealthiest man in Spain, in fourth place on the list of the richest people on the planet with a capital of 64 billion dollars.

Gaona was born in a small town in the Spanish province of Lyon in the family of a railway worker and a maid. Due to poverty, Amancio could not even finish high school and from the age of 13 he worked as a courier in a shirt store. Then, in 1950, he was hired at the La Maja haberdashery store, where his brother Antonio, sister Pepita and Rosalia Mera, who would later become his first wife, already worked.

At the age of fourteen, Amancio followed his family to La Coruña in the province of Galicia, where he became an apprentice to an Italian fashion designer. The owner of the atelier once told the father of the future fashion industry magnate: “You know, he won’t make a tailor, a tailor must be easy-going and sociable.” The owner of the studio was right, and therefore in the 1960s Amancio became a manager in one of the stores.

In 1972, at the age of 37, Amancio opened his own knitting factory. At first, he and his first wife, Rosalia Mera, sewed robes, nightgowns and lingerie right in the living room of their own home.

Rosalia Mera, first wife of Amancio Ortega Gaona

In 1975, the couple opened their own store on one of the central streets of La Coruña to save their business after a German customer canceled an order for a large batch of linen, in which Amansi had invested all his available capital. The store was originally named Zorba after their favorite character Anthony Quinn from the movie Zorba the Greek, however due to registration issues the store had to be renamed Zara.

Amancio Ortega realized before the Chinese that it was possible to make copies of the best clothing models from famous couturiers and sell them several times cheaper. The idea was successful, and Zara stores began to open at incredible speed throughout Spain.

In the 80s, Jose Maria Castellano joined Ortega’s team, with whom Gaona came up with an innovative “instant fashion” business system, a mandatory component of which was his own design studio. The studio was named Industria de Diseño Textil S.A., or Inditex.

Inditex head office in Galicia (Spain)

In 1988, the first Zara store opened abroad - it was a store in Porto (Portugal). And then the conquest of the USA, France and - gradually - the whole world began.

If the business was going uphill and Inditex in a short period of time caught up and surpassed its main competitors, including H&M, in terms of production volumes and income, then family affairs were not going well for the creator of Zara.

In 1985, Amancio Ortega separated from his first wife, Rosalia Mera, who went through the first and most difficult years of the business with him. From this marriage there were two children - Sandra and Marcos. The latter, unfortunately, was born with a severe form of disability.

Marta Ortega Perez, youngest daughter of Amancio Ortega Gaon

After the divorce, Rosalia remained with 7% of Inditex shares. She died in mid-August 2013 at the age of 69 from a stroke, her fortune passing to her daughter, Sandra Ortega Mera, who is now considered one of Spain's richest women.
After the divorce, the founder of Zara settled fate with his assistant Flores Perez Marcote, with whom they still live in perfect harmony. The couple has a daughter, Marta Ortega Perez, who works in her father's company. She is involved in the youth brand Bershka, part of Inditex.

A few years ago, 78-year-old Amancio Ortega stepped down as chairman of Inditex, handing over the reins to a younger generation.

Amancio Ortega lives in a fairly modest mansion for one of the world's richest men in A Coruña in northern Spain, where he opened the first Zara store many years ago. The billionaire leads an extremely secluded lifestyle, not wanting to communicate not only with journalists, but even with King Philip of Spain himself, who has repeatedly invited him to royal receptions.

They say that the creator of “instant fashion” still likes to come to lunch at the Inditex headquarters, apparently in order to once again be amazed at the size to which his brainchild has grown and continues to grow.

Daria Tkacheva was interested in the history of the brand

A Spanish brand specializing in the production of clothing and accessories with their subsequent sale through its own retail network.

This is the flagship brand of the Inditex group, which also owns brands such as Bershka, Uterqüe, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Stradivarius, as well as Pull and Bear and Zara Home.

Founder of ZARA

In light of recent events, the owner and founder of Zara, Mr. Amancio Ortega, deserves special attention on our part, who, according to Forbes magazine, reached the status of richest man in the world, beating Bill Gates himself.

The change of position was made as a result of the fact that the price of Inditex shares reached 33.99 euros per unit, which automatically led to Ortega's fortune increasing to $80 billion.

Back in 2012, Amancio received the well-deserved status of the richest man in Europe. In 2014, the ex-president of Inditex took 3rd place in the ranking of the richest people in the world.

His life cannot be called simple at all. Born in the province of Leon in 1936 into a poor family of a railway worker and a maid, Amancio was forced to start working at the age of 13. His career began in 1949 as a courier in a shirt store. A year later he began working in a haberdashery store.

After the family moved to La Coruña, he got a job as an apprentice fashion designer from Italy, and after another 10 years - the position of manager. At the age of 37, Ortega opened his own knitting factory, which began the construction of his future tailoring empire.

Every day, the owner of a clothing empire wears a white shirt, gray pants and a blue jacket to work. His image has remained unchanged for many years; no one has ever seen him in a tie. Outwardly, he is a very simple man, but with very rich taste.

He even has lunch in the cafeteria located in the company building with his workers. He is a creature of habit, as evidenced by the fact that he visits the same cafe every single day.

Ortega is known for avoiding interviews; there are practically no photographs of his youth. The world first saw this man in 2000, when the company decided to appeal to the public.

The mystery surrounding Amancio and his life has always excited the press, and even led to the publication of a book dedicated to him.

Brand emergence

The year 1975 was a banner year for Amancio Ortega and Rosalia Mera (his first wife), because it was in this year that they together opened the first Zara store on the main street of La Coruña, Spain.

The impetus for this was the unexpected cancellation of a large order for sewing linen. The couple, in order not to go bankrupt, had to decide to sell the clothes they produced in their own living room without intermediaries.

Amancio Ortega originally named the store "Zorba" in honor of the main character of the film "Zorba the Greek", but as it turned out, there was a bar with the same name two blocks away. The owner of this establishment turned to Ortega and noted that this state of affairs creates confusion between the two Zorbas.

By the time it became clear that there were two different establishments with the same name, which was misleading consumers, the letters for the sign had already been made. So, Amancio and Rosalia had no choice but to simply rearrange them to see what they could come up with. This is how the name “ZARA” appeared.

Some fans wonder where the extra letter "A" came from, but it is believed that they had more than one set of letters. In addition, the cost of making the letters "B" and "O" was twice as high because they had to be made round, which at that time seemed a significant expense for the new company.

There is also a version that the change in the original name was due to difficulties in registering the brand.

The store turned out to be successful and the company's founder began opening new ones throughout Spain. During the 1980s, design, manufacturing and distribution processes changed to reduce lead times and improve responsiveness to emerging trends. Amancio called it "instant fashion". The company focused its efforts on introducing information technology, and also used groups of designers instead of “singles.”

In 1988 the company began its international expansion from Porto, Portugal. In 1989, the company expanded its representative office in the USA, and already in 1990 - in France. The international presence was increased in the 1990s, in Mexico, Greece, Belgium, Sweden, etc. until it reached its current presence in 88 countries.

The vast majority of stores are company-owned, unless local state law prohibits foreigners from owning the business. In such cases, Zara opens stores through franchising.

Fans of the brand in question will be interested in visiting, which is also owned by Inditex.

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Zara Products

It is stated that it takes the company only a week to develop a new product and deliver it to stores, which is impressive, especially compared to the industry average of 6 months.

The company releases about 12,000 new products every year. The brand follows industry-wide trends, transferring them to faster production methods in low-cost countries.

This unusual strategy may be the basis for its zero-advertising policy: the company prefers to invest revenue in opening new outlets. This reinforces the impression of the brand as a “fashion imitator” company with inexpensive products.

As of 2015, the brand represents the following product lines:

Woman– stands out for the unique cut and sophisticated business style of each clothing model, which is made from natural materials, mainly cotton, wool and silk. The collections are aimed at the fair sex in their prime age (from 25 to 45 years), who equally value comfort, quality and elegance of products. It is considered the most expensive line.

Men– represents products for the stronger sex in a classic business style, in the production of which natural materials are used. Valuable for its beneficial combination of fashion and presentability. Belongs to the middle price category.

Basic- a basic line represented by collections of men's, women's, and youth clothing in casual style. Made from fabrics combining natural and synthetic components.

TRF (Trafaluc)- a youth line intended for young people under the age of 25. Among the models you can find clothes in both sports and club, as well as casual styles, made mainly from natural materials. The products are made in bright, unusual colors and original design solutions. The concept of the collections is the expression of individuality through clothing. The line in question offers things in the low price segment.

Kids– a line of clothing for little fashionistas made from natural materials.

It is also worth mentioning the existence Zara Home, but it cannot be classified as a brand line; it is a separate brand that offers the buyer products for the home and interior, and is represented by its own unique product lines.

Production process

The company is positioned as a vertically integrated clothing manufacturer. Unlike similar retailers, it strictly controls most stages: from delivery, creation, production, and ending with the sale of finished products.

The company set up its own factory in La Coruña (a city famous for its textile industry) in 1980, and upgraded it to assembly line production in 1990.

This approach, developed by Toyota Motor Corporation, is called the “just-in-time system”, and allows the company to implement a business model that creates autonomy at all stages: from the purchase of materials, production, completion of the product and before distribution to stores worldwide within a few days.

50% of the brand's products sold are produced in Spain, 26% in the rest of Europe, and the remaining 24% in Asian, African countries and other countries of the world.

That's why while some competitors move all their production to Asia, Zara makes most of its fashion items - half of its total - in a dozen company-owned factories in Spain and Portugal, especially in Galicia and northern Portugal, where labor costs are somewhat lower than in most other countries. parts of Eastern Europe.

A brand can offer significantly more products than similar companies. It produces about 11-12 thousand different products annually, compared to 2-4 thousand products from its key competitors. A company can create a new product and present the finished product in its stores within 4-5 weeks; modification of existing products takes slightly less than two weeks.

Shorter product life cycles mean greater success in meeting consumer preferences. If a design is not in demand within a week, it is withdrawn from stores, further orders are canceled and workers create a new design.

Scandals

Products without toxic substances

In 2011, Greenpeace began a dialogue with the company about banning the use of harmful toxins in the production of goods. In November 2012, Greenpeace published an article “Toxic threads: the big fashion stitch-up”, in which ZARA products were sharply criticized.

Nonylphenol ethoxylates were found in 6 out of 10 items tested, and carcinogenic amines from azo dyes were found in two cases.

Following this publication, multiple protests were held outside the brand's outlets around the world, demanding that the brand come up with an ambitious plan to detoxify its clothing and reconsider its values.

After 9 days of intense public pressure, ZARA decided to completely switch to non-toxic products. The fashion retailer promised to stop using toxins in the production of its products, which also applied to seven other brands that are part of the Inditex Group.

TM also promised to make information about its suppliers that produce toxins public to at least 100 suppliers (of which about 40 are located in China) by the end of 2013. Nike, Adidas, Puma and others have also successfully implemented the policy. no toxins."

Today, the brand pursues an environmental protection policy, within the framework of which the company uses only environmentally friendly fabrics, as well as organic cotton, saves energy, minimizes the amount of waste and ensures its recycling, and conducts appropriate personnel training.

In addition, the company has an animal welfare policy that requires strict adherence to correct ethical standards during the treatment of animals used in the production process.

However, the brand does not sell products containing real fur, nor does it use materials that come from animals that were raised or killed specifically to sell their skin, down, feathers and other raw materials.

So today, consumers can be absolutely confident in the exceptional quality and safety of the products produced and sold by this brand.

Human rights issues

• Inhuman working conditions.

  On August 16, 2011, the Brazilian television show A Liga accused the company of using slave labor. The next day, the General Regional Directorate of Labor and Employment of Sao Paulo, Brazil, closed the factory that produced items for the brand due to poor working conditions.

  Illegal Bolivians sewed clothes for 12-14 hours a day, receiving as payment a small share of the money for which the clothes were sold. Many workers were forced to hand over their wages to traffickers who smuggled them into the country. There is evidence that even child labor was used.

  Zara representatives said the slave labor allegations against the retailer were "a serious violation under the Inditex External Manufacturers and Workshops Code of Conduct." They also demanded that all factories responsible for unauthorized outsourcing immediately resolve the situation with the involved workers.

  Inditex Group, along with Brazil's Ministry of Labor, have vowed to strengthen controls over the production systems of all suppliers in the country to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again.

• Discrimination.

  In June 2015, the company's former US general counsel, Ian Miller, filed a lawsuit against ZARA in which he claims he was discriminated against and harassed by the company because of his ethnicity and sexual orientation. Miller provided legal services to the firm from 2008-2015.

  He claims that during this time he was deliberately not invited to work meetings, was paid less than other employees, and was also allowed to use “racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic statements” against him. Moreover, such discriminatory manifestations come from the very top, that is, from the founder Zara Amancio Ortega himself.

  Mr. Miller said senior employees who harassed him with such behavior were protected from liability by Mr. Ortega. And when he turned to his superiors to resolve these issues, he was fired.

  Inditex is truly shocked by these allegations. “We do not tolerate any behavior that could be discriminatory or disrespectful,” a brand spokesperson told the NY Post.

  The case is pending in the New York State Supreme Court.

Problem products

Zara chain store

The number of stores is about 2000, they are located in 88 countries.

ZARA stores are located in shopping centers on the most important shopping streets around the world. The firm usually chooses the best location and most expensive properties in the world to open its flagship outlets.

These are found on Fifth Avenue in New York, Oxford Street in London, Calle Seranov in Madrid, Via del Corso in Rome, Champs Elysees in Paris, Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg, GUM in Vladivostok, Shibuya and Ginza districts in Tokyo, among many others. .

As of November 2015, the largest number of Zara stores are located in:

1. Spain – 454
2. China – 173
3. France – 127
4. Italy – 102
5. Japan – 98
6. Russia – 89
7. Portugal – 84
8. Germany – 80
9. UK – 67
10. Mexico – 65

Official website – Zara online store with catalog

The brand sells its products online in online stores available in 26 countries around the world, presenting the most extensive offer to customers.

On September 6, 2010, the Financial Times reported that Inditex had launched the first online store for its best-selling brand, ZARA. The website launched in Spain, UK, Portugal, Italy, Germany and France.

When asked about the company's subsequent achievements in online sales, Pablo Isla, CEO, said that they should wait for the results on demand before launching further projects in cyberspace.

All items sold at Zara's marketplace are available online at the same prices. The online return and exchange policy is identical to the system in a brick-and-mortar store, where customers have 30 days to change their mind. Requests are processed through technical support or via email or chat. Mobile applications exist for iOS and Android.

On November 4, 2010, the online store expanded services to five countries: Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Then - in the USA and South Korea in 2011. The simple website allows shoppers to filter their clothing searches by: types, colors, sizes, prices, and more.

Customers can view products from multiple angles and use super zoom to get an exceptional view of each item in great detail.

To the delight of Russian consumers On August 28, 2013, the brand launched its official website-online store in Russia, naturally, in Russian. Go to website.

The resource as a whole is intuitive, although quite minimalistic in terms of user functionality. There is a clear distinction between categories of items for women, men and children, as well as a convenient filter system.

The product, as stated by the developers, can really be seen in all details; the images of things are even too large, which is not always convenient. Detailed information about the product is available: composition, price, availability of sizes, rules for caring for a specific item, and more.

Directly from the product card, you can go to a page with a size guide, where you can get the data necessary to determine the size required for a specific client.

Moreover, it is possible to check the availability of the product the client is interested in in the store closest to him. That is, the buyer can either order the item he likes through the Zara online store or simply go to a brick-and-mortar store for this item, subject to its availability.

If the order is made through http://www.zara.com/, the delivery location can be chosen either at the buyer’s home (in this case, courier delivery is provided, which will be free if the purchase price exceeds 3,000 rubles) or at the ZARA store.

Zara Kids in the official online store

Children's clothing from the ZARA KIDS line is highlighted in a separate category on the official website. There is a gradation of things depending on the gender of the child and his age. It is convenient to have filters, which allows you to find the desired item in an accelerated mode, thanks to sorting products by name and other parameters.

And interior items.

The brand's policy is to produce products that are affordable in price and at the same time correspond to the latest fashion trends. According to CNN, Zara is one of the best-selling brands in the world. Currently there are more than 640 brands in 47 countries.

The Zara brand is part of a corporation (Industria de Diseco Textil), which also owns the brands Pull and Bear, Oysho, Uterqüe, Massimo Dutti and Stradivarius. The owner of the group of companies is a businessman - a man who ranks 7th in the ranking of the richest people in the world according to Forbes magazine (his fortune is estimated at $31 billion).

History of the Zara brand

The birth of the brand idea

Entrepreneur Amancio Ortega Gaona was born in 1936 in the Spanish village of Buzdongo de Arbaz, Leon province. His father was a railway worker, and his mother was a housewife. At the age of 14, the future entrepreneur dropped out of school and got a job as a messenger in a men's shirt store, and then as a salesman in the La Maja haberdashery store, where his brother, sister and a girl named Rosalia Mera, who later became his wife, worked.

Four years later, Amancio Ortega Gaona opened his own business: initially he ran wholesale warehouses. At that time, he came up with the idea of ​​producing and directly distributing children's dressing gowns, which would ensure low prices for the products. Together with his wife, the entrepreneur began sewing them in his own living room. Then Amancio Ortega copied the underwear of the famous expensive brand, which marked the beginning of the Zara brand policy.

Opening of the first store

On May 15, 1975, Amancio Ortega opened his first store in La Coruña. It presented clothes copied from products of leading fashion houses at relatively low prices.

Creation of a unique organizational system

Within four years after the opening of the first store, a network of boutiques was created throughout Spain. Amancio Ortega developed a unique production, warehousing and sales system that allowed products to be sold at affordable prices while maintaining their high quality. The system he developed was so innovative that it was subsequently studied by specialists at Harvard.

Development of a network of boutiques

In 1988, Amancio Ortega opened stores in Portugal, in 1989 in the USA, and in 1990 in France. By the 1990s, Zara had become the fastest growing fashion chain in the world. with an annual growth rate of 30 - 40%. Currently, Zara boutiques are represented in Spain, Russia, the USA, France, Italy, Great Britain, Ukraine, Mexico, Greece and the Middle East. In 2010, a rebranding was carried out, which marked the company's desire to continue to actively move forward.

Change of Chairman of the Board of Inditex Group

IN In January 2011, Amancio Ortega Gaone left his post as Chairman of the Board of the Inditex Group of Companies. He retains 59.2% of the organization's shares, and 87% of his fortune continues to be a share in the company. In the future, his stake should go to his eldest daughter Martha, who since 2007 has been part of the management of funds managing the assets of the Ortega family. Currently, the post of chairman of the board is occupied by former vice president of the company Pablo Isla, who worked for the Inditex Group since 2005 and in five years brought the corporation's brands to Asia, and also opened the Zara online store.

Work principles

Affordable prices

Zara brand clothing is in the middle price category. The absence of your own brand shows allows you to save on the cost of the final product while maintaining the quality of the company's tailoring.

The principle of "instant fashion"

The brand applies the so-called principle of rapid design, when a minimum amount of time passes from the development of a new collection to its presentation in stores (about 15 days). The company's creative team, consisting of more than 200 specialists, uses global trends to create new collections. The noticeable resemblance to clothing largely ensures the success of the brand. The brand's conceptual policy is to combine classic and youth styles in its models.

Frequent collection updates

Zara tailoring is carried out in small batches using industrial and cottage industries. Currently, the Zara brand cooperates with 30 manufacturers of materials and accessories. The range of collections (more than 10 thousand models per year) in branded boutiques is replenished twice a week. The fast deliveries characteristic of the brand ensured the emergence of a new term “Z-day” in the clothing market.

Franchising

The Zara brand network operates under a franchise system. In the regions, company representatives have master franchises, which allow them, at their own discretion, to control the number of boutiques in their territory. In Russia, 36 stores have opened in 10 years, and now franchising has been temporarily suspended. In this regard, the ZaraZara brand appeared in our country, which follows the concept and style orientation of the brand.

Brand lines

Official site: www.zara.com