Zara fashion chain’s owner Inditex cheers record Q2 sales, as store and online trading improves

The owner of fashion chain Zara saw sales reach a record high in the second quarter, when more stores were reopened from lockdowns.

Spanish retail business Inditex, which is also behind brands such as Massimo Dutti and Bershka, said sales growth at constant currency levels in the three months to July 31 was 7% ahead of the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.

The company said: “The recovery continues to gain momentum.”

Inditex said in the first half to July its spring/summer collections “were very well received” by shoppers, and store sales have progressively improved and online is growing strongly.

During the six months it recorded net sales of €11.9 billion, 49% higher than a year earlier when retailers were grappling with the start of the coronavirus crisis.

Stores in England were able to reopen from the most recent lockdown in April. In recent trading, August to September 9, Inditex’s store and online sales at constant currency, were 22% and 9% higher respectively than the same period in 2020 and 2019.

The group has over 6,600 stores globally.