482 new shops in 2012
In no less than 64 countries a total of 482 shops were opened
in 2012, lifting the general total to 6009 locations.
That is more than double the amount of rival H&M, that ended 2012 with 2800
locations. Inditex also entered new markets, such as Armenia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia and Macedonia.
Pull&Bear opened shops in Austria, Columbia
and Thailand, while Canada, Taiwan and the US got to know Massimo Dutti and
Stradivarius opened its first location in Mexico. Zara Home was launched in
Brazil and China got new locations of Uterqüe.
Online expansion
At least as important where the investments
online: internet activities were expanded considerably and Inditex is at the
moment active online in 23 countries in Europa, the Americas and Asia. Zara
went online in China, while online shoppers in the United States can peruse through
collections of Massimo Dutti and Zara Home.
The largest part of the investments went into modernising the eight Spanish distribution centres, implementing the latest
technological advancements. By the summer of this year the headquarters in
Arteixo will also be expanded by 70,000 sqm.
Important employer for the region
With the expansions in 2012 no less than 10,802
new jobs were created. The total number of employers of Inditex has risen to
120,314, mostly in Spain. That makes the company on of the
largest private employers on the Iberian Peninsula.
The story of success does not stop there: Inditex
wants another 440 to 480 new stores in 2013. The online expansion also is not
over: last week an online shop of Zara was launched in Canada and in the autumn
Russia will follow suit.
Sales of 1 February to 12 March
2013 already boast a rise of twelve percent, compared to the previous year,
which will only hasten the current plans of Inditex.
