Spanish fashion brand opens largest Philippine store in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Spanish fashion retailer Zara has chosen Cebu as home for its largest store in the country as it starts its expansion into the Southern Philippine market.

Aside from being the largest in the Philippines, the recently opened Zara outlet at the Ayala Center Expansion is also the first concept store for the brand in Southeast Asia, and the 7th store overall in the Philippines, six of which are located in Metro Manila.

"Cebu is now ready for fashion-forward style and we are confident that the brand will grow here as it did in other stores in Metro Manila," said Malu Fernandez, marketing and communications manager of Store Specialist Inc. (SSI), the Philippine franchisee of Zara.

The Zara shop at the Ayala Center Cebu occupies 2,103 square meters of selling area which features the brand’s latest clothing collections for women, men and kids.

In an interview with Fernandez, she said that Zara grabbed the opportunity to expand in Cebu, its first outside of Metro Manila, because of the huge space allocation, apart from Cebu’s readiness to embrace the foreign brand.

Zara’s target market are the middle to high fashion-conscious. Product range for Zara apparels are between P2,595-P5,000.

It is claimed that Zara needs just two weeks to develop a new product and get it to stores, compared to the six-month industry average, and launches around 10,000 new designs each year.

The opening of Zara, along with other high-end apparel and specialty shop brands in Cebu handled by the Rustan Group’s Store Specialist Inc (SSI) signals Cebu’s readiness in becoming a true-blue metropolitan destination.

"The Cebu retail market has been very exciting in recent years. We now see that consumers are ready to take in more signature and luxury brands," said Anton Huang, SSI president in an earlier interview.

Huang said that more international brands, particularly luxury items, are now banking on the dynamic retail environment of Cebu spurred by the growth of tourism and high purchasing power of Cebuanos.

Huang also attributed the entry of more signature brands to the local market to the growth of retail infrastructure in Cebu as evidenced by more mall expansions.

Among these expansions are the construction of SM Seaside Cebu at the South Road Properties, a retail center at Megaworld, and more mini-malls by local developers.

Depending on the availability of commercial slots, the company is ready to bring in more international brands to Cebu including major urban areas in Visayas and Mindanao, Huang said.

SSI is a member of the Rustan Group of Companies which operates free standing and shop-in-shop boutiques in Metro Manila, Pampanga, Baguio, Cebu and Davao. It is the exclusive franchisee of some of the finest international names in fashion and personal care products such as: Lacoste, Armani Exchange, Bass, Ferragamo, Anne Klein, Nine West, Gucci, Prada, Polo Ralph Lauren, Zara, Kenneth Cole, Calvin Klein, Makeroom, Beauty Bar, Lush and more.

Now handling at least 80 international brands trading in 650 stores nationwide, SSI is going to bring in 10 to 12 new luxury and signature brands to the Philippines this year, said Huang.