What is the world’s largest fashion retailer? The answer might surprise you. With over 1800 stores in 56 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa, Zara is the brand that holds that title. Within the span of 28 years, the Inditex Group, Zara’s holding company, incorporated seven other brands and over 6500 shops in 88 different countries. As the figurehead of the Inditex group, Zara is the better known brand, however, many people have not heard of it. Today, I am here to inform you on one of the world’s most successful companies by providing a short biography of the founder, a history of Zara stores, and the work model implemented by the company.
To begin with, Amancio Ortega was born in Leon, Spain as the youngest of 4 children. When he was 14, his family moved to La Coruna because of his father’s work as a railway worker. During this time, Ortega quit school and found a job as a shophand for a shirtmaker named Gala, where he learned the trade. Eventually, he opened his own shop called Goa in 1972 which sold quilted bathrobes. He was able to mass produce these items by convincing local women to form sewing cooperatives. With the success of Goa, Ortega was able to open the first Zara in La Coruna and has since become the second richest man in the world with a net worth of $72 billion.
As stated earlier, Zara was first opened in 1975 by Ortega and his then-wife Rosalia Mera. It was originally called Zorba, after Ortega’s favorite movie, Zorba and the Greek, however, since there was a bar down the street called Zorba, Ortega had to change his store’s name. Since they already bought the letters for the name, they had to figure out a way to
The work model implemented by Zara is focused on the concept of “fast fashion,” which is exactly what it sounds like. The styles and trends of the merchandise change every season and often times stores will have a