Zara was again the best brand of the group by far, contributing about 50% to the total revenue and profit. The group had opened 21 stores of the flagship brand until last year. Bershka, Pull&Bear and Stradivarius had 19 stores each, while Massimo Dutti had nine, Oysho seven and Zara Home four. In all, Inditex had 98 stores in Romania. When it comes to revenue, Massimo Dutti is ahead of Stradivarius, because it targets high income customers unlike the latter, which is a mass-market brand.
Inditex is the leader of the local fashion retail, by combined revenue of its seven brands. Each brand, however, operates as a separate legal entity. Therefore the most powerful brand in Romania is H&M, whose revenue stood at more than EUR110 million last year, followed by Zara, EUR92.5 million.
The two brands cater to different segments – H&M chose the lower income customers, while Zara the average and above-average income ones. As a result, H&M opened more stores, almost 40 by the end of last year, and continues expansion to large and medium-sized cities of the country.
Inditex expanded in full gear until last year, the first since its direct entry on the market when it did not open any new store. Market sources say that was because no new malls opened to attract it.
It opened ten new stores in the new shopping centers in Bucharest (Mega Mall) and Coresi (Brasov) this year, so it now has 108 stores in Romania.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)