Zara and Inditex brands continue expansion on the market

Spain's Inditex group, the biggest player in the domestic apparel retail, with turnover of some 75m euros in 2009, will hire around 400 people this year to prop up store network expansion, according to ZF calculations.
The company, present in Romania with seven of the 8 brands of the group, plans to step up its expansion this year, after having opened 14 stores in each of the past two years, getting to a total of 51 stores, BUSINESS Magazin reports.
Inditex' decision comes as one of its main rivals, Sweden's H&M is entering the market.
Inditex will start this year's expansion with the first Massimo Dutti store outside Bucharest, in Iulius Mall of Timişoara.
While the economy was hit by the financial crisis and consumer spending started to decline, 2009 and 2010 were not crisis years for the Spanish group, as the store network continued to grow and the company's turnover rose from around 45m euros to 75m euros in 2009. Zara, the brand that owns the largest stores and the highest number of stores, has the biggest contribution to turnover (over 50% in 2009).