Mango faces 2023 with “very good prospects”, supported by its brand consolidation and expansion plans. If they have invested 120 million in 2022, they hope to exceed this figure this year. “We are preparing the company to take a qualitative leap”, says its CEO Toni Ruiz. The company, which “continues to grow,” now has 14,000 employees and wants to continue creating jobs as openings become available. “We want to continue to do our best to create and grow businesses,” he said.
If there is a country where the growth of the war tends, it is the United States, which affects to become one of the five big markets of Mango in the short term. The firm believes that its presence in the US market has a long way to go, supported by the good online sales performance it has recorded so far.
Although today they already have ten points of sale, in the coming months they will open new stores in the states of Georgia, Texas and California, which will kick off their plan to 2024 with 40 stores. This is followed by a large presence in Canada, where it has 95, waiting to open another 20 and another ‘flashgrip’ (disappeared store).
The second major focus is on India, where Mango has doubled its presence in two years. At present, they hope to open 35 new stores with Myntra, their local partner. All this without forgetting mature markets such as Europe: while in Spain they will reform the emblem, in France they will open medium-sized cities until they reach three hundred stores (now they have 233).
While waiting to finalize its plans in Italy, defined by its managers as a market with “a lot of potential”, the logo will continue to grow in Britain, the Netherlands and Greece. It has also been seen in other economies with significant economic dynamism such as Switzerland, Israel or the United Arab Emirates.
Through Russia, their freedoms continue to act
After the beginning of Ukraine’s invasion of Russia, the textile multinational announced in June 2022 the exit of the Soviet economy. It was the first Spanish company to do this, but the firm is still present in the country through an extensive network of franchisees that operate under the brand and sell the company’s parent product line.
The company estimates that the impact on its accounts in Russia was the cessation of about 20 million operations, as a result of the penalties imposed on it when they closed the blinds early. But the move has an aesthetic side, because Mango wanted to give up part of its stores to its franchises, which are still operated and received by the Catalan brand. “We found a solution, the most suitable,” defends Ruiz.
At that time the company had 55 own stores and another 65 licensed, up to a total of 120 across Russia. They accounted for about 8% of the company’s profits and were one of the world’s five largest markets. For direct management reasons, Mango no longer sends its trucks to Russia, but instead franchises, which buy the company’s merchandise at the Spanish headquarters or through intermediaries. In addition, they received lease agreements and employees who were then working in stores under the control of the parent company.
Ruiz admitted that this war was a challenge for the company that had 800 workers in Russia, 120 in Ukraine, another 60 in Spain of both countries. “The conflict was the inconvenience we experienced. Our main priority at the time was to protect our employees and our freedoms and our partners,” he declared in a press conference after the presentation of his results. In financial year 2022, which resulted in sales and profits of 81 million dollars.
