Zara’s owners claim that it can stay in middle age as the world’s biggest fashion brand reaches a half century in business that is tackling sales growth, trade wars and all-out war.
Inditex CEO Oscar García Maceiras told the Financial Times, despite allegations of the market that has knocked out almost 400 billion euros from market capital since December, through Zara’s “selective” approach.
“We have never been to dynamics announcing plans to triple the number of shops or double the balance sheet in X years,” he said. “It’s a project based on the project.”
Inditex Chief ÓScar García Maceiras: “I am very confident that the team and model features will continue to work” © Nacho Hernández/ft
Last year, Zara will enter Uzbekistan, the 97th country, and will open a store in North Carolina, the 26th US state next year. Garcia Matheilas, who took over in 2022, said there is even room for increased sales in Spain’s most mature market.
Inditex’s chief also identified small brand Virgin territory that the group acquired or set up in the 1990s — including Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Pull & Bear — had recently rolled out in some major markets.
However, the fashion industry is undergoing tough times. Fragile consumer trust is shaken by trade wars and armed conflicts, exacerbating pressure from the long-term trend of spending more on the experience and reducing clothing.
Inditex led the sector’s revival from the pandemic, but since then its sales growth has declined, falling to 1.5% in the first quarter of 2025, but currency fluctuations worked against it.
García Maceiras said: “During a certain time or a certain campaign, growth can be faster and growth can be somewhat moderate. But I’m very confident that team and model capabilities will continue to work and continue to see positive evolution.”
The CEO is a systematic, calm character that is not obvious in the fashion world. Certainly, before joining Inditex, he worked up the ladders of a company in a Spanish bank, including his duties as an advisor to Santander.
Garcia Matheilas, who turned 50 in October, declared that he and Zara “both came from the harvest in 1975,” and Inditex billionaire founder Amancio Ortega opened his first Zara store in Coruna, northwestern Spain. Ortega’s daughter, Marta, is now an Inditex chair.
Spain remains Inditex’s largest market with over 1,000 stores, accounting for 15% of sales. Despite Inditex operating only 100 stores in the country, the US ranked second in revenue. Russia was two markets until the company sold its business there due to the Ukrainian War.
Zara’s success is built on the speed of the supply chain. It sources almost half of its products mainly from Spain, Portugal, Türkiye, Morocco, and other so-called nearby countries.
Richard Hyman, partner at Aria Intelligent Solutions, a retail advisory group, said this is tied to the “forensic” ability to see and process what consumers like in terms of color, fabric and style.
This means Inditex will design new Catwalk-inspired costumes and be able to enter the store in just three weeks. You will need to go through a Spanish distribution centre or a Dutch distribution centre, but Garcia Matheilas said it will keep the store lineup fresh by refilling it with new cargo twice a week.
Inditex’s model helped the group flourish despite fierce competition with Mango, Primark, Shein and others. The group’s net profit rose 9% last year to 5.9 billion euros.
Since 2019, Inditex has reduced its number of stores to 2,000 to 5,500 outlets, but it has increased its total store space as it closes small stores and integrates into fewer larger stores. These stores also have significantly higher sales per square foot. Since 2021, about a quarter of sales have been made online.
“When Inditex enters middle age, is it the past? It’s definitely not,” Hyman said. “I think it’s matured well, but at age 50 it’s hard to produce the same number of growth you did years ago.”
On top of that, today’s fashion market is challenging even for the best operators. “When demand is soft… People are trying to protect the number of transactions, making it easier to ease innovation,” Hyman said. “Inditex was five years ago, so is it innovative today? Maybe not. Isn’t the market as well? Yes.”
García Maceiras said that the general financial disruption could discourage consumers from major purchases, such as “home purchases, car replacements.” However, he said shoppers are willing to buy party dresses and beach blouses unless one key indicator is rising: unemployment.
Since the pandemic, it has been “very stable in most of our market,” he said.
García Maceiras also identified the virgin territory of small brands that the group acquired or set up in the 1990s © Hollie Adams/Bloomberg
Garcia Matheilas was also optimistic about the impact of the world trade war, caused by the tariff barrage of US President Donald Trump, primarily due to procurement from Turkey and Morocco.
His argument about why investors should maintain their faith in sales was that fashion retailers have low market shares, even giants like Inditex, giving them room to continue growing.
For example, Oysho, a chain owned by Inditex, which has moved from lingerie to leisure wear, entered the UK in just 2023, but Bershka, who aims to be more edgy and youthful, opened its first store in India this year.
However, Tanyard Advisory retail analyst Simon Irwin questioned whether Inditex’s small chain had a strong enough identity. “Everyone knows what Zara is. But Belschka, Stradivarius, Pull & Bear – are they really that different?”
The group’s chief expressed his enthusiasm for the sophisticated interior and cafe featured in Zara’s latest shop ©NachoHernández/ft
Zara remains the driving force behind the group. Garcia Matheilas was keen on the refined interior and cafe featured in the chain’s latest shops.
Irwin said Zara’s store upgrades gave him a “huge bump” of sales per square meter.
“But the problem is that you can’t keep playing that game forever. Sales density has a natural peak for everyone,” he said. “At some point, you need to start growing online or increase your store number to grow your business.”
This is not an Inditex middle-aged crisis. But to avoid stagnation, the new impulse would be odd.
