C&A closes two of its three stores in Paris, rue de Rivoli and boulevard Haussmann. San Marina and Minelli are also reducing their fleet in France, according to information from the Fashion Network site. “Fifty of the 220 San Marina stores are affected and 15 to 20 of the 135 Minelli stores”accurate to World Stéphane Collaert, co-preneur of the former subsidiaries of the Vivarte group. Contrary to its peers, the Spanish group Inditex, world number one in fashion, is continuing to expand its Zara brand in France. Because, assures Jean-Jacques Salaün, its general manager, the chain which dresses men, women and children “outperforms”. Its activity is “increasing compared to 2019”, at a rate clearly higher than the indices of the French market, he swears without however being able to reveal the activity of Inditex in France, subsidiary of the Spanish group whose world sales soared by 36% in the first quarter.
On the eve of the start of the 2022 summer sales, this Wednesday, June 22, the man who has run Inditex in France for twenty-two years ensures that the chain will have “low inventory” to flow. Because the third subsidiary of the Spanish group, behind Spain and the United States, has emerged from the Covid-19 crisis ” with ease “. In 2020, shortly after the closure of clothing stores in France, to combat the spread of the coronavirus, then in 2021, Zara operated its stores as “logistics platforms” and, from their shelves, picked the items to be delivered to honor online sales.
Geolocate each item
Everything was made possible by RFID, this electronic chip that makes it possible to geolocate each item, its color and its size. The brand has thus cleared its stocks. Since then, this management method has remained. And it will be used from time to time in the years to come to fuel Inditex’s ambitions on the Net.
While online sales weaken the operation of its competitors’ stores, Zara does not envisage the “store closing” in France. “It’s more about reformatting them so that they present the most important clothing offer”, says Salaün. Without however being as exhaustive as in Madrid, where Zara inaugurated a store of 7,700 square meters, in April. In France, where it operates 115 stores, the Spanish firm is now targeting areas of 2,000 to 3,000 square meters in large cities. This will be particularly the case in Paris where, at the end of 2023, Zara will open a 3,000 square meter store on the Champs-Elysées, at number 74 of the avenue, replacing the one it operates at number 92.
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