Inditex will close 1,200 stores

Inditex is looking for a network of stores with a larger average surface area and which generate “higher levels of profitability”. The new strategic plan designed by the group foresees that the company will reach a network of almost 7,000 stores around the world, absorbing between 1,000 and 1,200 smaller stores this year and next. Despite the decline in the number of stores, gross annual growth is expected to be 2.5%.

The closure of these stores is not because they generate losses, in fact, most will be absorbed by others of greater size. “These units correspond fundamentally to the oldest establishments of the chains other than Zara“, the group details.

After this adjustment, Inditex will have “a network of high quality stores, in the best locations. With online sales it is expected that they will generate a growth in comparable sales in the long term of between 4% and 6% annually”.

The group has closed the first quarter of this year with a net loss of 409 million euros, the first red numbers of the group since it was listed. Sales amounted to 3,303 million euros, 44.3% less than in the same period last year.