Zara hits Mag Mile in 'dream' site
Clothing chain noted for hot-off- the-runway deals
Spanish fast-fashion retailer Zara opened its largest store in the nation Friday in Chicago, replacing a Talbots women's clothing store at 700 N. Michigan.
The store, with three floors measuring 17,500 square feet, sells women's clothing on the first and second floors, children's on the second floor, and men's clothes on the third floor.
The site on the Magnificent Mile "is like a dream, like a gift," and is aimed at understanding the type of fashion a Midwestern shopper wants, said Jesus Echevarria, chief communications officer for Zara.
Zara also is committed to opening a store in the Block 37 development on State Street before year's end. That development is in doubt, however, because the developer has been sued for foreclosure.
Zara is best known for rapidly changing the clothes it sells, creating a sense of excitement that tells the customer to buy now or lose out, said Lee Eisenberg, a former Lands' End executive and author of Shoptimism -- Why the American Consumer Will Keep On Buying No Matter What.
The retailer, owned by Spanish-based Inditex Group, designs clothes based on the latest runway shows, and gets them into stores within two weeks by using a tightly controlled manufacturing and distribution process. Zara is considered a step above rival H&M in its designs and prices, retail experts say.
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