Who Owns Zara?- Know more about Zara

Zara SWOT Analysis & Competitors

In this 21st Century, we all have a heavy knowledge about the latest fashion trends and in some way about the brands as well. Additionally, when the word ‘Zara’ comes we automatically think of varieties of clothing from the retailer shop. Zara is a Spanish apparel retailer which was not founded on American soil but on Arteixo, Spain. In this article, we will see the answer to your question ‘Who Owns Zara?’.

The world-famous retailer apparel has been in the fashion market for quite some time and has opened up more than 2,200 stores worldwide. Ever since its establishment, the retailer apparel did not see much of its own hands. 

Foundation Owner of ZARA

The retailer apparel was founded by Amancio Ortega and Rosalia Mera. Amancio Ortega is a Spanish world-famous businessman and his ex-wife Rosalia Mera was a Spanish businesswoman and entrepreneur. Unfortunately, Rosalia Mera died on 15th August 2013 but, at the time of her death, she was the richest woman in Spain and the world’s richest self-made woman. 

The first store was opened by the couple way back in 1975 in central A Coruna, Galicia, Spain. The headquarters of the company is still present in the location. Initially, the name of the retailer apparel was Zorba given by Amancio Ortega which was after the classic movie ‘Zorba the Greek’. Unfortunately, he soon found out that there was a bar with the same name so he changed the letter to ‘Zara’. 

The first store opened by the couple featured the latest product with relatively low price but, with higher-end clothing fashions. The store soon saw a good amount of profit and the owners thought of expanding their profitable business throughout the country. 

Within five years down, Ortega and his wife opened additional Zara stores throughout Spain and all of them were an instant success. But, Ortega kept the ever-changing process constant in the market. Coming into the 1980s the owners of the business changed the design, distribution process, store design, and manufacturing to reduce the lead times and react to the new trends more quickly. 

During the same decade the company huge improvements in the use of information technology and groups of designers instead of an individual. In 1985, both the owners of Zara founded Inditex de Diseno Textil, S.A. It is a Spanish multinational clothing company that is also headquartered in Arteixo. 

This multinational clothing company owns multiple clothing brands such as Zara Home, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Lefties, Uterque, Oysho, and Bershka. Interestingly, the company’s flagship store is Zara it owns all the stores of Zara all around the world. 

Ever since the multinational clothing brand has owned Zara and has done it quite successfully. This is because Inditex was founded in 1985 and in the same year Zara saw a huge expansion in the world market. By 1988, retail apparel started its first international expansion through Porto. 

Inditex De Diseno Textil

In one way we could say that the owners of Zara were its founders only. This is because the Inditex clothing company soon after its foundation incorporated Zara and many other clothing brands in the market. 

Till the 80s Zara was only known for its clothing brand but, in 1990, the company under Inditex started owning other footwear collections like Tempe which was founded in 1989. The footwear was the leading brand in the footwear sector working under Inditex Group. 

Tempe had a huge contribution in the footwear department as the children’s section of most of the Zara stores was filled with the latest and trendy shoes. Before, coming under Inditex’s command Tempe had already gained major growth in the market and brought innovative products in the market. 

It was in 1991, Inditex Group created Pull and Bear, it is a casual menswear company. The name of the brand came from the word ‘pull from the shelf’ and ‘bear’ meant ‘put it on. Other than creating a menswear company, the company also acquired a 65 percent share in the upscale Massimo Dutti brand. 

Interestingly, with such huge profits from so many different clothing brands, Inditex created ‘Lefties’ which came from the word leftovers. This unique brand was created to sell all the old created and manufactured clothing from Zara at a relatively cheaper price tag to the consumers in the market. 

Zara under the command of Inditex opened up stores in various countries Mexico, Greece, Sweden, Belgium, France, and many more. Moving to the 2000s, Zara opened their first stores in Brazil, Japan, Singapore, Venezuela, Malaysia, Russia, China, Morocco, Estonia, Hungary, and Romania. 

Just after a decade, Zara started their first online boutique in Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Germany, and France. This was the decade where Zara as a brand started expanding their business fully in the online platform. In 2010, Zara Online extended its service to five more countries like Austria, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Ireland. 

Uniqueness About Zara 

The company has evolved quite impressively over the years ever since its establishment in the market. Zara is the only multinational clothing retailer that changes its clothing designs every two weeks on average. On the other hand, its competitors change their designs every two to three months. 

Other than that, it has been found that Zara focuses more on its supply chain capabilities. Their highly responsive supply chain is the main point or reason for the success of their business. 

In 20111, some of the reports confirmed that Zara was using toxic clothing products to be sold in the market. Just nine days after Zara confirmed that they were using toxic materials to manufacture clothes and as a result, they immediately stopped the use of the chemical throughout its entire supply chain and products. 

Recently, Zara has cultivated a unique advantage with their 4Es approach to marketing focusing more on experience, evangelism, exchange, and every place strategies for the customers, rather than the old product price, place, and promotion of the brand. 

Agile Marketing Chain of Zara 

Zara makes sure that all of their stores take deliveries twice per week, and they can always get ordered inventory often within two days after placing their orders. All the items and products are shipped and arrive at the nearby stores and are put on the hangers and with tags and prices on them. 

All the products and items come off from the delivery trucks and they go directly to the sales floor of the outlet. This makes it possible for the store manager of the particular store to receive the product that the customers want and when they want them with ease. 

All the Zara stores respond practically as in real-time basis for all of the customers’ preferences. This is such a great service done and implemented by Zara for great success in the high change in the fashion industry in the future. 

Overall, Zara has a fast-moving and finely tuned supply chain because the top management of Zara keeps constant attention to keep the supply chain run smoothly for the customers. The managers and other heads in the supply chain department are always researching and watching the customer demands and making adjustments to the manufacturing unit and the supply chain operations. 

Conclusion 

The world-famous fashion retailer apparel was only and is still owned by its initial founders. Due to its growing popularity and profit, we do not think that the ownership will change in the future. Recently, Zara introduced HighAF which delivers Trippy, Trendy, and Aesthetic Men and Women Apparels. The products sold here are highly being appreciated by the targeted market and it will continue to do so. 

Frequently Asked Questions 
  1. What is Zara highly known for in the world market?

Answer- Ever since its introduction in the market Zara used the concept of ‘fast fashion’ retail and the same thing is being followed to date by the management department of the company. The company believes that they aspire to create a passion for fashion among various customers and various cultures. 

  1. What does it mean when Zara says ‘Coming Soon’?

Answer- Zara means that their items or the products are on the verge of being re-stocked. Zara puts a ‘coming soon’ message inside a envelop just next to the sold-out size. If the customer clicks on it and adds their email address, then those customers will be alerted by email as soon as the product gets re-stocked. 

  1. What happens to the clothes or products that go unsold by the company?

Answer- Many faulty items take place while manufacturing a particular product or clothing item. These products are either sold to Zara’s Clearance operation or are mostly donated to charity. Additionally, the parent company of Zara, Inditex has revealed that they put more focus on reducing the stock levels to cut down the excess inventory. They do this by running short production and their proximity manufacturing levels. 

  1. What is the re-stocking cycle of Zara?

Answer- Interestingly, all the Zara stores in the country and worldwide get new stock twice a week and the top management makes sure that they come on time. But, that could slightly depend on the location of the outlet but, often the re-stocking is done on Mondays and Thursdays. The working staffs are always there to open the new boxes and put up on the hangars of the store. 

Who Owns Zara?- Know more about Zara

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