The fashion empire behind Zara is shifting from smaller local stores to large high-profile outlets as it battles online competition.
Healthy sales of “fast fashion” skirts, tunics, jeans and sweaters pushed profits at Inditex up by 5 per cent to €2.5 billion for the year to January.
The world’s largest clothes retailer, based near La Coruña on Spain’s northwestern coast, revealed that capital investment is likely to slow this year after intensive spending on improving logistics and online offerings. Inditex, which also owns Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear, expects to open between 420 and 480 shops in 2015, although between 80 and 100 smaller shops will shut.
In common with other traditional retailers, Inditex faces fierce competition from online rivals such as Asos in