Inditex, the Spanish owner of fashion stores Zara and Berschka, is set to open two new Zara stores in Moscow this year. The stores will open in the city's central GUM shopping centre and in the Lomonosov University. Zara opened its first store in Moscow in the Mega South shopping centre in March 2003.

"In view of the difficult and very particular property market conditions in Moscow, we convinced Inditex that the quickest way to enter Russia would be through the Mega South commercial complex," said Inditex's Finnish and Russian franchise partner, Stockmann. Upon opening, the Zara store experienced the best-ever sales growth generated by a Zara store located in a shopping centre. Since the opening of the first store, six more Zara stores have opened. Inditex has also opened Stradivarius and Pull & Bear stores in Russia.