Mango gears up for new era of Megastores

Mango has introduced a new store concept, known as

megastores, following in the footsteps of competitor Zara with plans for retail expansion. The Barcelona-based brand is easing into the new shop image, dubbing this year a 'transient year' with plans to open 13 megastores throughout Europe by the end of the year. According to internal sources, a select number of Mango stores in the UK will be given an over-haul and transformed into megastores, with the shops on Oxford Street in London and Manchester first in line. The Spanish retailer states that they see 'great potential’ to expand in the English market, but at the same time admits they face strong competition as well. With the addition of megastores, Mango is relying on ‘qualitative leap in the English market,’ in hopes that their presence in the UK will become the ‘model brand’ it is in Spain, Germany or France.

By introducing bigger and better stores, Mango aims to boost their sales by selling complete collection lines in a single location. Current shops cannot house complete lines, which in turn forces the brand to open up additional shops for their other lines, like H.E. by Mango. In order to solve this space issue, Mango decided to launch new megastores. Vice president of the brand, Daniel Lopez, stated that for a store to display current Mango women wear lines, they need at least 1,000 square meters of selling space. The majority of current Mango stores have an average selling space of 298 square meters per line. The new megastores are set to range between 335 square meters and 2800 square meters. By introducing super sized shops, Mango tackles their problem of inadequate selling space and manages to bring their entire collection together in a single retail location. With the unison of all their lines, Mango, H.E. by Mango, Mango Touch, Mango Kids, Mango Sports & Illustrated, the brand hopes to create a family friendly store and attract a wider spectrum of consumers.

Mango is ushering in a “new era” of stores and current results look “fantastic,” according to Lopez. In June Mango revealed they were investing 265 million euros in new store openings, renovations, as well as logistics and information systems. It appears to be that their investment has already showed positive signs of paying off. The current megastores have been well received and sales have been above expectations. In certain locations, the brand has seen a turn over three to four times more than previously experienced in smaller stores. Their goal is to achieve a 5 billion euro turnover within the next four or five years with the expansion and growth of their stores. “The idea of megastores is a change in our DNA,” Lopez explains, with new store construction following a strict set of requirements. In locations where it is not possible to build a giant store, Mango will settle for opening two or more separate stores to house their complete collections. However, this not the ideal or what they are striving for, Lopez reluctantly admits. Mango is getting ready to open a total of 200 megastores in 2014, with the majority of them being based in Spain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway and Poland, a hefty addition to the current 2600 European stores. Creating a strong international presence is one of the keys to Mango's success, as 84 percent of their 1, 691 million euro turnover from the previous year came from their foreign market.