#Retail & Brands

2024-01-25

Zara Home opens its first Portuguese for&from store for integrating persons with disabilities

Zara Home has opened its maiden for&from store, the Inditex Group initiative designed to integrate persons with disabilities into society and the labour force, in a new market for the initiative: Portugal. The new establishment, under the management of the VilacomVida Association, is located in the Freeport Lisboa Fashion Outlet in the town of Alcochete, close to the Portuguese capital, and has more than 150m2 of floor space for displaying and selling prior-season Zara Home collections.

The new Zara Home for&from is located in the Freeport Lisboa Fashion Outlet in the town of Alcochete, close to the Portuguese capital.
This opening makes Portugal the third country with for&from establishments and adds to the platform's 14 stores in Spain and single store in Italy.
The VilacomVida Association is the entity tasked with managing the new establishment, which has over 150m2 a floor space devoted to the display and sale of prior-season Zara Home collections.
The mission pursued by the for&from programme, which now encompasses 16 stores operated under the various Inditex brands, is to integrate people with different kinds of disabilities into society and the workforce, having so far generated employment opportunities for more than 750 people and €8 million of profits for the charitable organisations that run the stores.

The inauguration of the Zara Home for&from in the Freeport Lisboa Fashion Outlet makes Portugal the third country to welcome this retail format. There are now 16 for&from stores which between them have generated employment opportunities for over 750 people with different abilities and more than €8 million for the charitable work done by the various managing organisations.

for&from

The new Zara Home for&from store aspires to create a beneficial environment for the store’s staff - currently made up of 17 people with different types of physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities - so as to facilitate their integration into society and the labour force.

After an initial donation by Inditex for the stores' construction, the model becomes self-sufficient thanks to the sale by the charities of prior-season products at reduced prices.

The profits are reinvested in the projects run by the network's various partner charities, in this instance the VilacomVida Association. As a result, the stores become banner retail premises for inclusion, accessibility and the elimination of barriers.

Partnership with VilacomVida

“Since the beginning, we at the VilacomVida Association have been working to create a more independent and happier future for youths with differing abilities. It is an honour to form part of this initiative which allows us turn our vision into a reality”, said Filipa Pinto Coelho and João Gomes da Silva, the founders of VilacomVida.

for&from dates back to 2002 when Massimo Dutti opened the platform’s first store in Palafolls (Barcelona). Today, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Tempe Inditex are also part of the project. In 2019, for&from inaugurated its first international store in Italy, which is managed by Fondazione Cometa. With the new Zara Home for&from in the Freeport Lisboa Fashion Outlet, the platform has 16 stores, with all of the Inditex Group’s brands represented. Portugal is the third country to welcome for&from, adding to the 14 establishments already operating in Spain and the sole store in Italy. Over its more than two decades in operation, for&from has generated job opportunities for over 750 people and €8 million of profits for the charitable organisations that run the stores. © INDITEX

“We are grateful to the Inditex Group for choosing us to train the employees of this new Zara Home store and introduce the for&from concept into the Portuguese market. This partnership is an important endorsement of the work we are doing with these young people, particularly in projects like Café Joyeux”.

Store concept

The Zara Home for&from spans 150m2 dominated by natural materials and warm colours. One of the key materials is natural European oak combined with stone and pale-coloured finishes.

The meticulously-selected product range is displayed following the logic of a real home and its rooms. The collections are introduced in the central display units with alternative colours and designs shown around the edges of the store.

Inditex will fund the university education of 50 female textile industry workers in Bangladesh for five years

Inditex and the Asian University for Women have launched a new scholarship program to support the academic training of female textile factory workers in Bangladesh. Inditex will allocate €3.75 million to fund this initiative, enabling 50 women to access pre-university and university education over the next five years, providing them with new opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Inditex reports strong Q1 2024 performance

Inditex's sales grew by 7.1% in Q1 2024, reaching €8.2 billion. Sales in constant currency rose by 10.6%. Gross profit increased by 7.3% to €4.9 billion, with a gross margin of 60.6%. Operating expenses increased by 6.4%, below the sales growth rate. EBITDA rose by 8% to €2.4 billion, while EBIT grew by 10.3% to €1.6 billion. Net income saw a 10.8% increase, reaching €1.3 billion.

GORE-TEX® KIDSWEAR launches innovative membership scheme for kids’ jackets

With its revolutionary new membership model, GORE-TEX® Kidswear now offers families a simple, flexible and sustainable way of kitting out their children in top-quality jackets. It is aimed at the parents of children aged between five and ten and kicks off with a choice of functional winter jackets.

The Address of innovation and investment in textile technologies: ITM 2026

Sales for ITM 2026, one of the world’s most comprehensive and prestigious exhibitions in textile technologies, are continuing at full steam. The record number of exhibitors and visitors achieved at ITM 2024 once again proved the industry’s confidence and the commercial success of the exhibition; meanwhile, the strong interest shown in ITM 2026, to be held on 9-13 June 2026, has far exceeded expectations.

STOLL in focus:

At the beginning of this year, KARL MAYER announced that it would be shifting its focus back to its core areas of warp knitting, warp preparation and technical textiles. As part of this strategic realignment, the flat knitting machine business under the STOLL brand will be discontinued. The Reutlingen plant will close down on 31 October 2025. Production in China will end in December 2025. This was an extremely difficult decision for KARL MAYER.

Heimtextil 2026 strengthens the global home textile industry with trends, designs and AI technologies

With an optimised hall layout, progressive design collaborations, inspiring trends and AI-driven innovations, Heimtextil 2026 reacts to the current market situation – and offers the industry a reliable constant in challenging times. Under the motto ‘Lead the Change’, the leading trade fair for home and contract textiles and textile design shows how challenges can be turned into opportunities. From 13 to 16 January, more than 3,100 exhibitors from 65 countries will provide a comprehensive market overview with new collections and textile solutions. As a knowledge hub, Heimtextil delivers new strategies and concrete solutions for future business success.