MELBOURNE: The first Zara store in Melbourne may open ahead of the Sydney Westfield site, according to the Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS).
The Spanish fashion giant’s parent company Inditex has been collaborating with the ACRS to gain insight into local operations. In return, Inditex has revealed to the ACRS many secrets of its international dominance.
ACRS research fellows Carla Ferraro and Sean Sands travelled to Spain to discuss the brand’s foray into the Australian retail landscape.
“They have accelerated their plans for a Zara store in Melbourne and there is a possibility that the
Melbourne store will open before the Sydney store,” said Ferraro.
“The Sydney store is due to open in Westfield’s Pitt Street Mall Centre during April or May 2011, but all we know about the Melbourne location is that it will be in an equivalent major shopping centre. The race is definitely on to see which store will be first.”
Sands said the Zara supply chain will continue to operate out of Europe for the foreseeable future.
“However, I think we can expect to see distribution and logistics centres in the Asia Pacific region if the Zara store presence continues to grow,” he said. “Zara is keen to launch the online store in new markets, but at the moment, fulfilment is coming from Madrid, and they will only enter more markets when they have the capacity to service them.”
For full details on Zara’s new Melbourne store, pick up a copy of Ragtrader’s November 19 issue.