Author: Stephanie Guazhima

Zara was founded by Amancio Ortega in La Coruña, a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It opened its first store in 1975 and has grown into a global success with over 2,238 stores in 96 countries (Hanbury, 2018).  This success impacted the retail industry because of Zara’s unique market format. The uniqueness of their brand make consumers feel like if they don’t buy a product right away, the chance of the item being there next week is slim to none. 

Zara’s parent company, Inditex, manufactures and headquarters in Arteixo (A Coruña) in Galicia, Spain. It is home to 5,000 employees that focus in design, photography, modeling, manufacturing and distribution (Hanbury, 2018). They successfully use vertical integration; in which the company has control in each step of the supply chain such as the planning, design, manufacturing, production and distribution as opposed to outsourcing, which is why they succeed as global retailers (Sternquist and Goldsmith, 2018).

We are working so that all of our products are sustainable from the raw materials stage through design and production.

https://www.zara.com/us/en/sustainability-products-l1455.html

Zara has introduced their Join Life collection which is said to be manufactured solely on sustainable raw materials, with technology that reduces water intake, and lastly, using renewable energy in at least one manufacturing process  (“Join Life”, 2018).

Zara has also made a promise that in the year 2025, 80% of energy consumed in their stores, factories and headquarters will be from renewable sources and will produce little to no landfill waste (Conlon, 2019). This statement shows that the company is taking initiative in satisfying customers needs by having ethical production practices and responsible retailing.