By Aimee Chanthadavong
The wait is finally over. Zara will be opening its first Australian store on Wednesday morning to the public.
But as part of a sneak preview, RetailBiz managed to catch a glimpse of the 1,400 square metre flagship store located in Westfield Sydney on Pitt Street Mall.
Owned by Spanish company Inditex, the Zara store spans across three levels. Its ground floor is made up of womenswear and accessories, its lower ground is dedicated to childrenswear and the first floor is devoted to men’s fashion.
Following the company’s international logistic model, deliveries of new merchandise will be made twice a week from Zara’s manufacturing headquarters in Europe. The store is currently stocking limited edition lines all of which are priced at reasonably affordable pricepoints.
“In fashion, no more than 30,000 to 35,000 [of each line] will be manufactured,” Jesus Echevarria, Inditex chief communication officer, said.
“We’ve doubled our [style] team and we’ve got teams working in Australia, which means the trends are global trends but the materials and designs will be adapted to the winter here. We’re sending fashion everywhere but to different cities.”
Reflecting the fitout of its international counterparts, the Zara store is dominated with neutral shades with materials such as resin and aluminium being used for furnishings and fittings, while porcelain tiles cover the floor.
Echevarria also highlighted that while there are currently over 1700 Zara stores in 78 countries, the opening of a Zara store in Australia is never too late.
“We always want to have the best location. In this market, we also wanted to be sure of the collection. We wanted to have the right designing team to be specifically working for this market and obviously that takes time to have that and to ensure you’re doing the right thing,” he said.
“I don’t believe it’s a late moment because I believe from perspective it’s the right moment to open.”
Echevarria confirmed the second Zara store in Melbourne, located on Bourke Street, will open late June but has not speculated about any further store openings around the country.
“Everything is about the customer. The first thing is to be humble and to hear the customer. And we’re going to do that in here and Melbourne and then we’ll open on a store by store basis but first of all we want to understand what everyone needs and then we’ll see for the future.”