Inditex and Mango go to China

Spanish fashion retailers Inditex and Mango will expand into China and new international markets this year.

Inditex, which owns Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Pull and Bear, already has 14 shops in China but will add shops in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macao and Hangzhou. It will open its first stores in Tianjin, Nanjing, Harbin and Shenzhen.

Meanwhile Mango, which already has 45 stores in China, plans to expand its presence in the market "significantly" this year. It did not disclose specific targets, but the Spanish retailer said its openings in China would form part of its plans to double its global store count within the next four years. Mango founder Isak Andic is reported to have said there is potential to open 1,000 stores in China.

Mango has earmarked €85 million (£63.6m) to spend on opening up to 180 stores worldwide in 2008. It opened 152 shops last year and now has 1,100 stores in 89 countries.

Inditex has about 4,000 stores globally in 68 markets. It opened 560 shops in 2007, 440 of which were outside its Spanish homeland. That equates to 80% of new openings in international markets. New markets entered in 2007 included Oman, Croatia, Colombia and Guatemala. In 2008 it plans to enter Ukraine, Korea, Egypt and Montenegro.