Inditex to open more than a dozen Zara stores in U.S. this year

Reuters
A woman holds a Zara bag inside a Zara store in central Madrid March 18, 2014. REUTERS/Andrea Comas

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Inditex <ITX.MC> will open more than a dozen Zara clothes stores in the United States this year, including a flagship store in the SoHo area of New York, it said on Thursday.

Zara's "fast fashion" business model has helped to make it one of the world's biggest clothing brands, with owner Inditex's strategy in the U.S. a focus on large, flagship stores and its online operation. The group currently has 52 Zara stores in the United States.

Inditex, the world's largest clothing retailer, acquired the 4,400 square meter SoHo site for 280 million dollars, though the group said it still had a preference for lease deals.

The company also plans to open a 2,800 square meter Zara in the World Trade Center in the heart of New York's financial district this year and is expanding another Manhattan shop.

By the end of 2015, it expects to have a total of eight stores in Manhattan.

Inditex is controlled by its founder, Amancio Ortega, Spain's wealthiest man.

(Reporting By Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by David Goodman)