Zara

n Zara, design is conceived as a process closely linked to the public.
Zara is present in 73 countries with a network of 1,341 stores in privileged locations of major cities. This internationalpresence shows that frontiers are no impediment to sharing a single fashion culture.

At Zara, design is conceived as a process closely linked to the public. The continuous information coming from ourstores to create a team of over 200 professionals moving concerns and customer demands. Within highlighted Zara fashion stores Kiddy's Class, present in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Greece.Zara moves with society, dressing the ideas, trends and tastes that society itself has matured. Hence its success among people, cultures and generations that, despite their differences, share a specialsensitivity for fashion.

The first Zara store opened in 1975 in La Coruña (Spain), where they began operating the Group and which are located the headquarters of the company. Its stores, located inprivileged locations always are present in over 400 cities in Europe, America, Asia and Africa

Zara was the largest and most internationalized of Inditex’s chains. At the end of 2001, it operated507 stores in countries around the world, including Spain (40% of the total number for Inditex), with 488,400 square meters of selling area (74% of the total) and employing €1,050 million of thecompany’s capital (72% of the total), of which the store network accounted for about 80%. During fiscal year 2001, it had posted EBIT of €€ 441 million (85% of the total) on sales of €€ 2,477 million (76%of the total).

Zara’s designers continuously tracked customer preferences and placed orders with internal and external suppliers. About 11,000 distinct items were produced during the year—severalhundred thousand SKUs given variations in color, fabric, and sizes—compared with 2,000–4,000 items for key competitors.

Production took place in small batches, with vertical integration into the...