Cotton On opens stores in Brazil

After Gap, Forever 21 and uneven, the "fast fashion" Australian Cotton On will disembark in Brazil with São Paulo stores opening in the first quarter of next year. The retailer, which has stores in 16 countries, 1,227 has plans to expand the operation to other States still in 2014.
In an interview with Value, by e-mail, the Cotton On said the details about location and size of the units must be confirmed and released "in the next few weeks".
The operation in Brazil will be commanded by Cotton On in partnership with a team of local executives. At first, the pieces (good part produced in Asian countries) are imported, as with the Gap in the country. "Our business model in Brazil will be built in such a way as to enable any exchange rate fluctuations," said the company.
However, to the extent that the operation in Brazil earn porte, the Cotton On will consider the possibility of setting up a local supply chain. That's what happened with the Spanish Zara, largest network of clothing in the world, controlled by Inditex.
With a strong presence in Australia and New Zealand, the Cotton On has nine brands: Cotton On, Cotton On Kids, Cotton On Body, Ruby Shoes, Factorie, t-bar, Cotton On Foundation, Typo and Supré.
The company has a flexible store format, ranging from 80 square feet to 2,000 square feet. The units "mega" meet the different brands of the retailer in the same physical space. "Because of this flexibility, our stores can fit in shopping malls established, expanding and new shopping malls," said the company.
The price positioning of Cotton On is quite aggressive in their country of origin and the company also has the ambition to achieve, in Brazil, offering "the rage at popular prices".
The arrival of the Swedish H&M to the country is also expected for next year, although the company-which is the second largest in the world in the sector after Zara-has not yet made an official communication on the subject.
The Americans Forever 21 Gap and Uneven and Spanish this year, announced the opening of its first stores in Brazil. In the case of Gap, which opened first store in Sao Paulo last month (in JK Iguatemi), prices here will be between 30% and 35% more expensive than in the United States.
All these international networks are coming to the country at a time when the fashion retailing faces challenges as the largest commitment of income of the Brazilian population.
Sales of clothing comes losing steam since last year and major retailers like Hering and Renner already give for granted that growth in the sector, going forward, will occur at more modest levels.
Despite this, the Cotton On said it has a long-term positive for Brazil: "due to the size of its population, growth and demographics, we believe that Brazil can be one of the biggest growth areas for Cotton On".
The fashion retail in Brazil should earn R $ 170 billion in 2013, according to the Institute for studies and Industrial Marketing (Iemi).
The retailer said that, despite recent economic indicators, is "confident" that market conditions will improve.
Privately, the Cotton On opens your billing, either details how it will finance its expansion plans in Brazil.
This year, the company opened stores in countries like Lebanon, Indonesia, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.