Inditex Launches Netflix-Partnered Brand Pull & Bear in U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Inditex SA, the Spanish owner of the Zara clothing brand, will start operating its youth-focused Pull & Bear brand in the U.S. on Wednesday, as the retailer plows ahead with plans to sell in every country worldwide by next year.

Pull & Bear will be available via web ordering in the U.S., its 34th global online market, according to an emailed statement. Inditex already operates 94 Zara stores, three Massimo Dutti stores and one Bershka store in the U.S. The company declined to comment on whether it plans to open physical Pull & Bear stores there.

The push into the U.S. comes as Inditex aims to start offering products in every market in the world by next year, with the aim of becoming one of the world’s first fully global apparel companies. Pull & Bear is going up against youth-targeted U.S. competitors including Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s Hollister Co., Forever 21 and Brandy Melville.

Arteixo, Spain-based Inditex in recent years has invested heavily in technology, from augmented reality and tablets in dressing rooms to robot arms to deliver products, as it aims fight off growing competition from online rivals such as Asos Plc, Zalando SE and Boohoo Group Plc.

In parallel with its rollout in the U.S., Pull & Bear is marketing a limited edition of T-shirts themed to the hit Netflix Inc. show “Stranger Things,” ahead of the series’ third season. The tie-up between an Inditex brand and Netflix is striking given the retailer’s traditional wariness regarding advertising and big marketing splashes.

Inditex operates eight brands in 96 countries, with more than 7,000 stores. Its biggest markets outside Spain, by number of stores, are China and Russia, in both of which it has almost six times as many stores as the U.S.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at rorihuela@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Charles Penty at cpenty@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III

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