By
Bloomberg
Published
Dec 14, 2023
European clothing retailers Zara, Primark and Mango are making further inroads into the US interior via mall openings as they target areas with faster population growth than on the coasts.
States such as Utah, Colorado and Tennessee have become a “very relevant” demographic for Zara, according to Spanish owner Inditex SA said. Rival Mango has also opened stores in Texas and Georgia over the summer. And two of British discount clothing retailer Primark’s eight new stores in the US this year will be in Texas.
The days when European retailers mostly focused their expansion on the East Coast and California appear to be over. More are now pushing further into the center of the country.
The strategic shifts reflects a demograpic reality, with population growth in the south and west creating more demand. Texas, Utah, Colorado and Georgia, for example, were among the fastest-growing states, according to the 2020 US census.
Recent Zara store openings have taken place in San Antonio, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and follow others in Nashville, Denver, and Murray, Utah, in past years. The population of the Nashville area has increased 24% in 10 years, while that of Denver is up 13%.
Expansion plans
Overall, Zara plans to open, refurbish or enlarge at least 30 stores in the US by 2025.
“Additional exciting projects will come in the next weeks,” Chief Executive Officer Oscar Garcia Maceiras said Wednesday as he presented earnings.
The US has often proven a tricky market for many European retailers. In 2019, Inditex shuttered Massimo Dutti shops it had opened there. Asos Plc, an online UK retailer that’s operated in the US for over a decade, recently scaled down its ambitions for the market. Last month, Dr. Martens Plc cut its outlook for this fiscal year and the next, hurt by a slowdown in spending by American shoppers.
Inditex is considering introducing its Zara Home in the US and relaunching the Massimo Dutti chain there. Currently those two brands are only available through the Zara.com website.
Spending by US shoppers is resilient for the right products, according to Inditex, citing strong demand for a recent capsule collection with New York-based photographer Steven Meisel. Rival Mango said it’s seeing growing demand for feminine occasion-wear, alongside more casual styles long favored by US shoppers.
“That opens a door for us in the American market,” said Daniel Lopez, Mango’s director of expansion and franchises.
Mango’s decades-old presence across Latin America helps it cater to the Latino population in the US, according to the executive. The retailer has three stores in Miami and several in New York and New Jersey, and this year it’s opened more in Texas, Georgia and California.
Challenging markets
European clothing retailers’ turn to the US comes as other markets struggle. Inditex and H&M operator Hennes & Mauritz AB have in recent years pruned their store networks in China as consumer demand proved less strong than hoped. After the invasion of Ukraine, many clothing retailers have exited Russia.
Inditex now gets 19% of its sales from the Americas, including the US, where it relies heavily on e-commerce in addition to more than 100 stores. The country is the retailer’s second-largest market.
“It took H&M a number of years to achieve profitability in the US and it was a slow-burning market for Inditex before both finally made a significant success with their respective fast-fashion business models,” said Deutsche Bank retail analyst Adam Cochrane.