As part of efforts to boost online sales because of the impact of the corona spread around the world, the fashion giant has announced it will close its stores in Europe and Asia

• Closing stores for the promotion of the online platform

  Photo: 

  Gideon Markovich

Bad news for popular brand Zara: The  group will close some 1,200 stores worldwide as part of efforts to boost online sales because of the impact of the Corona spread worldwide, the British Guardian newspaper reported. 

Most stores will reportedly close in Asia and Europe. Probably and very likely, 107 Inditex stores will be closed. The Spanish Inditex company also owns brands in Rashka, Paul & Bar and Massimo Dotti. The company stated that the number of employees would be stable and offered them other positions, most of them in online sales. 

The total number of stores dropped from 7,412 to 6,700-6,900 after the reorganization which would also include the opening of 450 stores.

Inditex, one of the world's largest retailers, was hit hard during the Corona epidemic. The group's sales fell 44 percent to € 3.3 billion between February 1 and April 30. 

The company reported a net loss of € 409 million during the quarter and almost a quarter of the group's stores remained closed until June 8. However, the group's online sales increased by 50 percent compared to the first quarter last year and by 95 percent in April this year compared to April last year. 

Under the new Inditex plan, online sales will account for more than 25% by 2022 compared to 14% in 2019, and larger stores will serve as online sales distribution centers.

Inditex, controlled by its founder Amancio Ortega, plans to spend a billion euros on its online store by 2022 and a further 1.7 billion euros in stores to enable them to better integrate with websites for faster deliveries and real-time tracking of products.