3 Mar, 2010 @ 11:40
1 min read
2

Putting siesta culture to bed

THE image of Spanish companies suffering from inertia due to the siesta culture can now be put to bed.

Spain’s top fashion brands are moving onto the British high street like never before.

No less than four big Spanish chains are planning to expand further into the UK this Spring.

Fashion firms are leading the way with Zara – who already have 65 stores in the UK – planning dozens of new shops.

Mango has opened 15 new outlets in department stores over the last year, making a total of 46 shops around the UK. More are planned.

“In Spain they are having to offer half price goods, just to sell their stock, in the UK they can sell the same goods for more money.”

Desigual, another clothing chain targeting youngsters, already has 200 stores in the UK but wants to open more this year.

Tous, fronted by Kylie Minogue, are about to open two new stores in London while children’s clothing firm Neck and Neck and shoe store Camper are planning new shops.

Audacious company Café y Te may even try selling tea to the English with plans for three outlets in London.

While the shops are only keeping their heads above water in Spain, in the UK they are making decent profits.

“In Spain they are having to offer half price goods, just to sell their stock,” said one industry insider. “In the UK they can sell the same goods for more money.”

Meanwhile British brands are suffering in Spain with Vodafone reporting a 6.8 per cent loss last year.

Burberry announced it was cutting 300 jobs in Spain this year.

Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)

Jon Clarke is a Londoner who worked at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday as an investigative journalist before moving to Spain in 2003 where he helped set up the Olive Press.

After studying Geography at Manchester University he fell in love with Spain during a two-year stint teaching English in Madrid.

On returning to London, he studied journalism and landed his first job at the weekly Informer newspaper in Teddington, covering hundreds of stories in areas including Hounslow, Richmond and Harrow.

This led on to work at the Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Mirror, Standard and even the Sun, before he landed his first full time job at the Daily Mail.

After a year on the Newsdesk he worked as a Showbiz correspondent covering mostly music, including the rise of the Spice Girls, the rivalry between Oasis and Blur and interviewed many famous musicians such as Joe Strummer and Ray Manzarak, as well as Peter Gabriel and Bjorn from Abba on his own private island.

After a year as the News Editor at the UK’s largest-selling magazine Now, he returned to work as an investigative journalist in Features at the Mail on Sunday.

As well as tracking down Jimi Hendrix’ sole living heir in Sweden, while there he also helped lead the initial investigation into Prince Andrew’s seedy links to Jeffrey Epstein during three trips to America.

He had dozens of exclusive stories, while his travel writing took him to Jamaica, Brazil and Belarus.

He is the author of three books; Costa Killer, Dining Secrets of Andalucia and My Search for Madeleine.

Contact jon@theolivepress.es

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Story

Schadenfreude: A review of the Olive Press by A.N. Maier

Next Story

Huge hashish haul

Latest from National News

Go toTop