ZARAZHENNYE
According to the rating «Favorite brands of Russians» of the company Online Market Intelligence (OMI), among the top-20 (top of mind), the honorable thirteenth place in 2012 was taken by the company ZARA, for the first time included in the list of consumer favorites.
The aggressive expansion of the Spanish brand in the Russian market played a significant role in this. "We open 50 – 60 stores a year and we would like to maintain this dynamic," Jesus Echivaria, communications director of INDITEX Group Corporation, which, along with ZARA, includes such brands as Stradivarius, Bershka, admitted in a recent interview with Vedomosti., PULL & BEAR, Massimo Dutti and others. It should be noted that by September 2012, the retail network of the Spanish holding in Russia had 274 stores, including 58 ZARA stores, 50 Bershka stores, 47 each accounted for PULL & BEAR and Stradivarius, 18 Massimo Dutti, 37 OYSHO, 12ZARA HOME and 5 – UTERQÜE.
ZARA has been present on the Russian market since 2002. Initially, the brand was promoted by the Finnish company Stockmann, but in 2006 INDITEX announced that it would develop independently, and bought the stores open at that time from the distributor. According to the estimates of the INFOLine news agency, the revenue of INDITEX on the territory of our country by the end of 2011 increased by 20% and amounted to 13.6 billion rubles. By the way, local players have more: the "Sportmaster" has 47 billion, the "CentrObuvi" has 29.3 billion, the "Gloria Jeans" has 15.5 billion rubles. But judging by how successfully Inditex Group, which is the largest retailer of clothing in the world, is conquering foreign markets, the Spanish corporation is ready to compete for leadership with Russian retailers. In the first quarter of 2012, the company's net profit in the retail market amounted to 432 million euros, and sales in ZARA, PULL &BEAR and Massimo Dutti stores reached 3.42 billion euros in the reporting period. Analysts note that, paradoxically, the company owes much of its success in the field of clothing retail to the crisis that broke out. And the value of the brand ZARA according to BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands According to the annual rating of the value of global brands published by the analytical agency Millward Brown, it amounted to $12.2 million in 2012, an increase of 22% compared to the previous year. Having managed to catch the recent changes in the psychology of the buyer in time, and realizing that the current trend towards savings affected not only durable goods, but also the standard consumer basket, including casual clothes, ZARA, unlike many competitors, was able to respond to new customer requests. Competent marketing, the ability to consolidate business and reduce costs, network development and a sense of business helped not only to stay afloat, but also to fill the niches that were being vacated during the crisis.
Interestingly, ZARA also owes its appearance to the crisis. However, it was local, which happened in 1975 in the affairs of a novice Spanish entrepreneur Amancio Ortega from La Coruna, the second largest city in the district of Galicia. Ortega's German partner unexpectedly canceled a large order for the supply of women's underwear and clothing, in which Amancio invested all his funds. He had no other customers. In desperation, Ortega decided to sell his products on his own. And together with his wife, Rosalia Mera, he opened a shop near the main department store of the city. Ortega chose the name Zorba for it (after Anthony Quinn's favorite character from the popular film directed by Kakoyannis "The Greek Zorba"), but due to registration problems it had to be changed to ZARA. Shortly after the opening, the store's assortment was supplemented by twin models of famous fashion houses at reasonable prices. Gradually, fashion trends began to play out more boldly in new collections, and the brand had its own style.
To be continued
Author: Igor Mamin
Photos provided by the author
