In the textbook “International Retailing” by Brenda Sternquist, the focus on the Zara company, shows the overview of the company from the beginning, when the brand started in Spain. The study describes the company's international expansion, business systems, production and distribution to U.S. markets. Zara is part of a parent company called Inditex Group, centralized in Spain. At first, Zara started as a lingerie company and quickly expanded into three fashion sectors as a fashion brand for women, men and children. Zara prides itself on its private label, which keeps its brand image high and keeps its advertising costs low, which also boosts its company's profit margin. They also depend on fast product fulfillment to keep their stores efficient and exclusive. Zara's turnaround time of a total of three weeks motivates its customers to shop at their stores often to get the trendiest and latest fashions. They have limited new items on their shelves and sell them within two days, which creates exclusivity for customers and low amounts of markdowns or discounts on their items. Zara maintains a centralized distribution system and manufactures approximately 10,000 items per year. Zara's international expansion began in 1988, when it opened a store in Portugal and used a strategy of expanding one store per country each year. During its expansion, Zara really focused on opening flagship stores in major cities before expanding to neighboring and smaller towns. All Zara stores in Spain are wholly owned stores, but the company has also formed joint ventures and franchises in specific countries such as Russia and China for part of its expansion to penetrate markets. Currently, Zara is present in 60 countries with ...... middle of paper ......d in Romania in the coming weeks as well as South Korea and Mexico in the fall or winter 2014.” (Évigo). Zara's first online stores launched in 2010 and the company shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. As net sales slowly increase in 2013, the focus will largely be on opening new stores. Furthermore, the renewal of the image continued in Zara stores in all major cities around the world. The press article on the Inditex website states: “All new openings and renovations have implemented Inditex's eco-efficient standards, which now cover more than 2,200 of the Group's stores worldwide. » (Index). The Zara brand integrates a more economical business environment and promotes eco-friendly campaigns to promote sustainable development from its stores to industrial and logistics facilities throughout the supply chain..