Zara owner Inditex ‘temporarily’ shuts stores in Israel

Spanish clothing giant Inditex, owner of the brand Zara, announced Tuesday it was “temporarily” closing its 84 stores in Israel until further notice, four days into the war between Israel and Hamas.

“Our stores will be temporarily closed and (item) return times will be extended by 20 days from their reopening,” the group said on its Israeli websites and also confirmed to AFP.

Inditex, which owns seven brands including upmarket Massimo Dutti and teen label Stradivarius, has been hit by the war in Ukraine that forced it to close its 514 shops in Russia, at the time its second-biggest market after Spain.

The group has also seen its production costs rise due to the global increase in transport and energy costs, which it decided to offset with price hikes, setting itself apart from rivals like H&M.

Still, it reported a record net profit in the first half of 2023 last month, due to strong sales.

Spain’s other major textiles label Mango was also not allowing sales on its Israeli web page Tuesday, according to an AFP journalist. The ready-to-wear group could not be reached immediately.

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