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7 February 2018 – Eje Prime
In recent weeks, the Galician fashion retail group has formalised the operation, which it began to study a year ago. For the time being, the company has not decided what to do with the plots.
A real estate operation on the edge of Barcelona. The Galician group Inditex, the largest fashion retailer in the world, has signed the purchase of 22,000 m2 of land in Sant Adriá del Besòs in recent weeks. The land acquired corresponds to plots that used to be occupied by Schott Ibérica.
According to explanations provided by sources close to the operation, the acquisition has been carried out by the group’s parent company, Inditex. The sale and purchase has been brokered by the real estate consultancy JLL, according to market sources.
The company chaired by Pablo Isla started to study this move a year ago. Although initially, the possibility of using this land to house the new headquarters of the Bershka chain was considered, sources close to the operation indicate that Inditex has not decided what to use the site for yet. The acquisition is looking to anticipate possible future needs.
Schott Ibérica’s plant in Sant Adrià closed its doors at the end of 2014. The company, which is dedicated to the manufacture and sale of glass tubes for pharmaceutical use, employed more than 100 people on the site at the time of its closure. The plot had attracted interest from several operators.
Inditex has a presence throughout Spain. The headquarters of Zara and Zara Home are located in Arteixo (A Coruña), along with the corporate offices; the headquarters of Pull&Bear are located in Narón (A Coruña); the offices of Uterqüe, Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Oysho are located in Tordera; Stradivarius, in Sallent; and Tempe in Elche (Alicante). In addition to its offices, the group has an extensive logistics presence in Spain, with distribution platforms in A Coruña, Alicante, Zaragoza, León, Barcelona, Madrid and Guadalajara.
In the case of the headquarters in Cataluña, Inditex started to move some of its operations closer to the Catalan capital several years ago, with the aim of improving its ability to attract talent. In fact, Stradivarius moved its design centre to Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona) last year following the acquisition of land there, measuring 18,911 m2, from the Generalitat de Catalunya. That brand’s logistics activity, however, is still located in Sallent (…).
With a network of more than 7,500 stores in 94 countries, Inditex ended 2016 with revenues of €23.311 billion. As we wait for the company to announce its results for 2017, we see that it recorded profits of €3.157 billion in the previous year.
Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja & Pilar Riaño)
Translation: Carmel Drake