The new online shops went live on 17 April and, as is customary, they offer the same range of merchandise as that found in high street stores, along with the same policy on returns and exchanges. The Uterqüe website was designed to offer a shopping experience remarkable for its simplicity, making the entire process as comfortable and easy as possible. 

The company also took great care to ensure that the collections are attractively displayed on the website: both in terms of quality and variety of photographs, and of the way outfits are assembled and different looks put together. In addition, the site features photos from the latest seasons' campaigns and lookbooks, which give users an overview of the entire range of the retailer’s collections.  

]]> Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:25:02 +0200 http://www.inditex.com/en/press/other_news/extend/00000919 http://www.inditex.com/en/press/other_news/extend/00000919 Bershka’s store in Berlin, the retailer's first outlet in Germany, has obtained LEED Platinum certification. Platinum is the highest possible rating in the LEED scoring system, the world's most exacting sustainable architecture rating scheme. The Berlin location, with two sales floors and an imposing façade, welcomes shoppers on Tauentzienstraße, one of the prime shopping streets at the heart of the German capital. The 1500-square-metre shop is one of the largest Bershka outlets in the world.

The distinction was awarded by the representatives in Spain of the U.S. Green Building Council, the developer of the LEED certification, at the new Bershka store in Mataró Parc, the first one within the Inditex Group where full lighting system is LED based. Highly innovative and energy efficient, as it reduces energy consumption to the lowest levels in the market, LED technology enables the store a 30% energy saving over traditional lighting.

Bershka designed its debut store in Germany to be a benchmark for the chain's approach to environmental awareness. As part of the "Sustainable Inditex 2011-2015" environmental plan, store upgrades are one of the Group's key projects. The goal is to apply stringent energy conservation, waste reduction and sustainability standards to each of the Group's new stores and to renovations of existing stores. The company is committed to making 100% of its stores eco-efficient by 2020, which will enable it to reduce CO2  emissions by 30% in 2020.

The Bershka on Tauentzienstraße exemplifies the Inditex Group’s commitment to environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. The following are highlights of the measures implemented during the design and construction of the Berlin Bershka which helped the store to achieve LEED Platinum status: 

o   Use of insulation which prevents abrupt temperature changes in the interior, including a green roof covering 30% of the roof’s surface.

o   42-percent reduction in water use. Furniture and fittings bear the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) seal, which guarantees that the wood used to make them is harvested from sustainably, responsibly managed forests.

o   A lighting system which saves 30% on energy use compared with that of a conventional shop.

o   A system for the selective collection of recyclables and specific protocols for recycling clothes hangers, security tags and delivery boxes.  

o   Materials such as stone, paving materials and surface cladding are free of pollutants that could be released during their life cycle or when they are disposed of as waste.  

o   Centralised, independent systems for monitoring the store's usage of different resources. These systems maintain constant levels of energy savings and quickly detect anomalies.  

o   Double automatically opening entrance door helps to maintain the store interior’s temperature while minimising energy use.

Additionally, 100% of the energy consumed by the Berlin Bershka comes from renewable sources, while all store staff have been trained on the appropriate use and maintenance of the facility. LEED certification also endorses a site's surroundings. In this case, the Berlin store is close to an extensive public transport network which encourages sustainable access, while Bershka has provided 12 bicycle parking spots for bike-riding shoppers. 

First store fully lit by led lights

Meanwhile, Bershka recently inaugurated a store in Mataró Park (Spain) --- the first Inditex Group shop to be lit entirely by LED technology. LED is the most advanced and lowest energy consuming lighting technology on the market, ensuring that the new establishment saves 30% on lighting costs compared with a traditional outlet.  

At the Mataró store, other elements are intended to illustrate the Group’s commitment to the environment, including active encouragement of responsible transport, with a bicycle parking area for customers and employees, an insulated green roof 30-percent covered with vegetation, water-saving equipment which cuts water use by nearly 50%, and furniture with the FSC seal, which guarantees that wood comes from sustainably, responsibly harvested forests.

Store personnel have received targeted training and awareness-raising assistance to teach them how the store works and how to maintain it in order to yield optimum performance from the facility's sustainability features. 

The Inditex Group’s net sales (1 February 2011 to 31 January 2012) rose by 10% in 2011 from 2010 to 13.8 billion euros. Net sales increased in all geographic areas (Spain, the rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia and the rest of the world). Net income totalled 1.9 billion euros, an increase of 12% from 2010. Net sales in local currencies rose by 11%, while like-for-like store sales climbed by 4%.

The Group created 9,374 new jobs last year, bringing its workforce to 109,512 employees at the end of 2011.

Key figures
Financial figures (in millions of euros)	2011	2010	11/10
Net sales	13,793	12,527	10%
Gross profit Gross margin	8,180 59.3%	7,422 59.3%	10%
EBITDA EBITDA margin	3,258 23.6%	2,966 23.7%	10%
EBIT EBIT margin	2,522 18.3%	2,290 18.3%	10%
Net income Net income margin	1,932 14.0%	1,732 13.8%	12%
Other 2011 figures
Number of stores Net openings			5,527 483
Number of markets New markets			82 5
Employees			109,512

483 new stores 

The company opened 483 stores in 49 markets in 2011, bringing the Group's total number of stores to 5,527 and expanding the Inditex retail footprint in all geographic areas. Highlights of these launches included the first stores – Zara brand in all cases -- in five new markets: Azerbaijan, Taiwan, Australia, South Africa and Peru. The latter three markets represent further progress in the differential retail strategy Inditex applies to markets in the Southern Hemisphere. These collections, customised for southern countries' seasons, drew a warm welcome from shoppers at the new Zara stores in Sydney, Melbourne, Johannesburg and Lima. Following its debut in the Australian market, Inditex further cemented its role as a global fashion retailer with stores on five continents.

Expansion in Asian markets. 

Highlights of Inditex's international expansion included 132 openings in China, 30 of which were Zara locations, as Zara passed the 100-store mark in China. Two Inditex concepts, Oysho and Zara Home, disembarked in China in 2011 with 17 and five stores, respectively, helping to bring the total number of Inditex stores there to 275.

Another two stand-out markets in Asia were Japan and South Korea, with 15 and 13 new stores, respectively, including the first Bershka locations in both markets and the first Pull&Bear and Stradivarius stores to land in South Korea. Three new Zara stores in India (in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore) and the aforementioned launch in Taiwan (two stores in Taipei) round out highlights of expansion in Asia.

In Europe, growth highlights included Poland (50 new establishments), Russia (49), Romania (21), Turkey (21), Italy (17), Ukraine (14) and the Netherlands (8).  As for Europe as a whole, Inditex opened 233 new stores, including the first Bershka and Zara Home locations in Germany, the first Pull&Bear in the Netherlands, the first Oysho in Ukraine and the first Massimo Dutti in Lithuania.

Emblematic locations. 

The Group’s strategy for siting stores in prime shopping areas, often in well-known buildings, in 2011 materialised in several openings, including new Zara stores on the most coveted shopping streets in Sydney (Pitt Street) and Melbourne (Burke Street) and in the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan's capital.  Bershka landed in Japan with a four-storey establishment in the Shibuya district. It also opened in upscale locations in Lausanne (Rue Saint François) and Istanbul (Bagdad Cadesi). Meanwhile, Bershka in downtown Berlin unveiled its most sophisticated eco-efficient store, which aims for a LEED Platinum certification for environmental sustainability.  

In addition, Pull&Bear opened a store on Rotterdam's Lijnbaan Street which is fitted with the latest environmentally-friendly features. Pull&Bear also inaugurated establishments in locations ranging from Casablanca's Boulevard Al Massira to Brussels' Rue Neuve and Marseilles' Rue Saint Ferréol.

Meanwhile, Zara Home made its German debut with a large store in Frankfurt’s renowned shopping area, Rathenauplatz. Zara Home also opened stores on

Online store launch in China. 

Zara will begin offering its fashions online in China during next winter season, extending its e-commerce business to one of the fastest-growing markets for Inditex concepts. The Group continued to develop its Internet sales platforms in 2011, and by September 2011 all of its formats had online stores.  By the end of the year, Inditex retailers had e-stores in 18 European countries. Zara's online shop also began welcoming customers in the US and Japan.

Online stores
Germany	Zara, Pull&Bear, Masimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, Uterqüe
Austria	Zara, Pull&Bear, Masimo Dutti, Bershka, Oysho, Zara Home
Belgium	Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Oysho, Zara Home
Denmark	Zara, Pull&Bear, Masimo Dutti, Zara Home
Spain	Zara, Pull&Bear, Masimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, Uterqüe
United States	Zara
France	Zara, Pull&Bear, Masimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, Uterqüe
Greece	Zara Home
Ireland	Zara, Pull&Bear, Masimo Dutti, Bershka, Zara Home
Italy	Zara, Pull&Bear, Masimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home
Japan	Zara
Luxembourg	Zara, Oysho, Zara Home
Monaco	Zara, Masimo Dutti, Zara Home
Norway	Zara, Zara Home
Netherlands	Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Oysho, Zara Home
Poland	Zara (*), Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Zara Home (*)
Portugal	Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, Uterqüe
United Kingdom	Zara, Pull&Bear, Masimo Dutti, Bershka, Oysho, Zara Home, Uterqüe
Sweden	Zara, Pull&Bear, Zara Home
Switzerland	Zara, Masimo Dutti, Bershka, Zara Home, Uterqüe

(*) Online stores launched after 31-01-2012

Dividend. 

The Inditex Board of Directors will submit a proposal to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, planned for July, for payment of a dividend of 1.80 euros per share, an increase of 12.5% from a year earlier. This dividend will consist of a 0.90 euro per share interim dividend payable on 2 May 2012 and a 0.90 euro per share final and extraordinary dividend payable on 2 November 2012. 

Performance in early 2012. 

Store sales in local currencies, adjusted for the calendar effect of an extra trading day in February due to the leap year, have increased by 11% from 1 February to 14 March 2012.

As for full-year 2012, Inditex plans to increase its total number of stores by between 480 and 520 new establishments. Among these, Zara opened last week a 3,500 square metres store in New York City at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street which has become a worldwide flagship for the brand.

  ]]> Wed, 21 Mar 2012 07:37:33 +0100 http://www.inditex.com/en/press/other_news/extend/00000911 http://www.inditex.com/en/press/other_news/extend/00000911 Zara’s largest US store designed with the latest advancements in sustainability and will be used as the global standard for the international retailer

Zara, the Inditex Group’s fashion retailer, inaugurates a New York City store showcasing Zara’s revamped architecture and interior design scheme. The establishment, in the Tishman Building ( 666 Fifth Avenue, at the intersection of 52nd Street), enjoys a unique location at the heart of one of the world's prime shopping destinations. The shop's layout reflects an innovative approach to interior design that puts Zara fashions at centre stage.

The new Fifth Avenue Zara is the retailer's largest outlet in the United States, encompassing more than 3,000 square metres spread over three floors. The shop opens onto than 23 metres. The store will employ 450 people.  

The new store image is based on four principles: beauty, clarity, functionality and sustainability. The store design’s primary emphasizes simplicity as part of the retailer’s ongoing mission to facilitate direct contact with customers.

In each of the three floors, the store is organized around two long corridors or "catwalks" that lead to intimate boutique-like cubes on each side. Each space showcases a specific collection. The wood furniture is finished in neutral elegant colors and textures reminiscent of fabrics such as linen or silk.

Additionally, the shop includes all of the sustainability features of Inditex’s eco-efficient stores, marking further progress in the Group’s environmental commitments as outlined in its Sustainable Inditex 2011-2015 Plan. The following are a few highlights of the Fifth Avenue Zara’s environmental sustainability features:

o        Motion detectors in the storeroom dim the area’s lights by 80% when no one is present. Motion detectors for lighting are also installed in less-transited areas (toilets and back-of-store corridors).

o        The store’s lighting dims to 66% of normal during janitorial and merchandise loading and unloading shifts.

o        The shop is equipped with the most efficient heating and air conditioning on the market thanks to its Variable Refrigerant Volume system.

o        Energy-intensive systems are turned on in a sequential pattern to prevent demand spikes.

o        Thermostats automatically adjust for heating and air conditioning. 

o        Electronically-regulated air curtains at store entrances prevent the influx of colder or hotter air from outside.

o       Speed-controlled mechanical escalators.  

o        Automatically opening double entrance doors.

o        Wood used in store fittings and furnishings bears the PEFC seal (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), which guarantees that it comes from sustainably, responsibly harvested forests.

o       Zara shopping bags also bear the PEFC seal, while plastic bags are biodegradable.  

The result of these measures is a store that consumes 30% less energy annually than the average for a conventional shop, uses 70% less water and prevents atmospheric emissions of more than 150 tonnes of CO2  per year.

A global presence, with more than 5,500 stores

The Inditex Group welcomes shoppers in more than 80 countries with more than 5,500 stores and eight retail formats: Zara, Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home and Uterqüe­. With total net sales exceeding 12.5 billion euros in 2010, Inditex is renowned for a business model that enables it to quickly meet changing market needs. All establishments worldwide receive new product twice weekly, enabling them to constantly refresh their merchandise with the latest fashion trends and tweak their collections to account for their own customers’ changing tastes and desires. More than 1,000 product design and development personnel at Inditex receive ongoing feedback from Group stores, helping them to mobilise rapidly to offer customers the items they crave at an attractive price.

The store occupies a coveted location in the mall and features a stunning façade spanning more than 100 metres, both of which ensure that the new Zara takes centre stage in one of Peru's most prominent shopping centres.

For shoppers in Peru, Zara offers fashion collections for women, men and children which are custom tailored for the Southern Hemisphere, given the difference in climatic conditions from the Northern Hemisphere. With its arrival in Peru, Zara builds on this exclusively-chosen Southern Hemisphere collection, which it also offers at its stores in Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Zara thus adapts the latest trends to garments and fabrics suitable for the fashion campaign specific to each hemisphere’s season, in collections which are constantly refreshed with new items landing in stores twice weekly.

Inditex stores in Spain today began selling a music player to raise funds for the fight against AIDS. The playbutton was produced by Inditex as part of its cooperation agreement with Médicos Sin Fronteras to fund a project to fight AIDS through the "Positive Generation” campaign. The device, which records and plays music in MP3 format, comes pre-loaded with 17 songs by several international recording artists (Alejandro Sanz, Antonio Carmona, Andrés Calamaro, Carlos Vives and Juan Luis Guerra, among others) and African musicians and choruses (Jimila, Sipepa, Silethemba and Vusisizwe).

The playbutton is sold at Inditex's nearly 2,000 stores in Spain with a price tag of 10 euros, with all proceeds going to fund MSF aid programmes for HIV-positive mothers and children in Zimbabwe.  

The songs may also be downloaded from any Inditex retailer’s website, all of which offer more information on the project along with details of the complicated musical production process carried out by Javier Limón in Zimbabwe.

Médicos Sin Fronteras in 2012 will implement its prevention, treatment and healthcare assistance programme for HIV-positive mothers, pregnant women and children in Zimbabwe’s Tsholotsho region. The goal is to provide appropriate services for fighting HIV and its consequences among the population in a rural area of limited resources, supporting the activities of Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health.

Inditex financed the manufacture of the MP3 players set to land in stores today. The playbutton looks like a wearable pin-back button or badge and measures just 4.5 cm. in diameter and 6 mm. in width. 

 It is compatible with standard earphones (not included) and offers storage capacity of up to 100 Mb. The device is rewritable and includes a USB connection cable, which is also used to re-charge the battery.  

Inditex’s net sales totalled 9,709 million euros in the first nine months of fiscal 2011 – from 1 February to 31 October --, an increase of 10% from the same period a year earlier. Net income stood at 1,302 million euros, an increase of 10%. Gross profit rose by 9% to 5,784 million euros, leaving the gross margin at 59.6%. Inditex created 9,678 new jobs in the past 12 months. The Group’s workforce totalled 106,251 people at 31 October 2011.

Key figures (first nine months of 2011)
(millions of euros)	3rd Quarter 2011	3rd Quarter 2010	Change 11/10
Net sales	9,709	8,866	10%
Gross profit Gross margin	5,784 59.6%	5,307 59.9%	9%
EBITDA	2,217	2,061	8%
EBIT	1,679	1,565	7%
Net income	1,302	1,179	10%

Inditex continued the pace of its openings in the first nine months, unveiling 358 new stores in 45 markets. Consequently, as of 31 October 2011, the Group had 5,402 stores and a retail footprint spanning 78 markets, after inaugurating its first stores in Australia earlier in the year. The company’s global multi-brand strategy paid off by delivering significant penetration of recently-opened markets by Inditex’s younger formats. Bershka launched in six new countries and Oysho in four, while Pull&Bear, Stradivarius and Zara Home each entered in three new markets.

Following the end of the third quarter, Inditex introduced the Group's first stores in Taiwan, South Africa and Azerbaijan, building on its global presence and extending its reach across five continents. Georgia and Peru are among markets set to welcome their first Inditex stores in coming months.

The pace of store launches was particularly intense in China, with 79 openings in the first nine months. The Group now has 250 stores in China, in 42 cities. All Inditex concepts present in the Chinese fashion market opened stores during the period, with two new formats commencing operations: Oysho (nine stores) and Zara Home (four stores).

Other noteworthy growth markets, in addition to China, included Japan, where, in addition to eight new Zara locations, Bershka debuted its first four Japanese stores. These included a flagship store in the heart of Tokyo's bustling Shibuya district.  Similarly, Inditex enjoyed a remarkable expansion in South Korea in the first nine months, with eight new locations, including the country's first Pull&Bear, Bershka and Stradivarius stores.

Store openings among Inditex concepts.  Other regions of the world also saw noteworthy openings. Highlights included Germany's first Bershka, located at a coveted spot on Tauentzienstraße, one of Berlin’s busiest shopping areas. German shoppers also flocked to new Zara Home shops in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Hamburg and a new Massimo Dutti in Münster.

As for Pull&Bear, highlights included its first stores in the Netherlands, in The Hague and Tilburg, followed by a third Rotterdam store. The latter is the chain's largest store in the world and is a benchmark for environmental sustainability, inspired by the Group's commitment to opening eco-efficient stores.

Meanwhile, Uterqüe chose its first outlet in Palma de Mallorca, at the heart of Paseo de Born, as the venue for revealing its revamped store image, while Stradivarius embarked upon a remarkable expansion in Poland, inaugurating 15 stores in the first nine months. In the same period, Oysho began expanding in Ukraine with its first locations in Kiev, Odessa and Donetsk.

Online launches. By the end of the third quarter of 2011, all Inditex retailers had arrived on the e-commerce scene, thanks to the launch on 6 September of online stores for Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterqüe (Zara and Zara Home have had online shops since 2010 and 2007, respectively). Online operations commenced in a total of 15 European markets. As of the aforementioned date, countries with access to at least some of the retailers' online stores included: Germany, Austria, Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland. In addition, Zara’s online store premiered in two new markets, the United States (7 September) and Japan (20 October).

Beginning of the fourth quarter of 2011. Store sales in local currencies between 1 November and 11 December rose by 11%.

]]> Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:14:33 +0100 http://www.inditex.com/en/press/other_news/extend/00000899 http://www.inditex.com/en/press/other_news/extend/00000899 The fashion label Pull&Bear opens its flagship store today in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The property, located at Lijnbaan 54, one of the main shopping streets of the city, has over 1,000 square metres of retail space set out on two floors, which makes it the chain’s largest selling point. For its premiere in Rotterdam, Pull&Bear, part of the Inditex Group, one of the leading fashion groups worldwide, launches a unique eco-efficient store.

The store incorporates sustainable and energy efficient measures which allow it to aspire to receive the Platinum LEED certification, the U.S. stamp for sustainable architecture considered the most demanding worldwide. The final result, a store that consumes 30% less energy and a 40% less water compared to the average annual consumption of a conventional store.

This opening is part of the environmental awareness project of the brand, Pull&Bear Ecologize-Me, which includes the incorporation of eco-efficient features in stores and ecological awareness actions for employees and customers. Pull&Bear’s first eco-efficient store opened in 2010 in Gran Via, Madrid, a space that has received the LEED Gold certification. For 2020, Inditex expects all of its facilities to be eco-efficient.