With a Chicago store under its belt, fast-fashion retailer Mango, based in Barcelona, is ramping up its U.S. expansion, opening new locations almost weekly.
During a Nov. 30 celebration at Mango’s Windy City location at Water Tower Place along Michigan Avenue, Jose Gomez, vice president for international business development, said the company opened stores in Dallas on Black Friday and in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 5.
“It’s a big, big push,” Gomez said. “So far, it’s going great. The biggest challenge for us is finding the right locations.”
Mango, a 22-year-old business that operates 1,000 locations worldwide, is seeking space in some of the most prominent shopping centers in the country. “It’s a way for us to get the brand known,” he said. “We’re looking for the right balance of luxury and affordable luxury and the presence of international tenants.”
Mango tends to opt for street-based stores in Europe, but Gomez prefers mall locations in the U.S. “In Europe, we’re a destination,” he said. “Here, they [shoppers] are not looking for us, so we have to be in the middle of everything.”
In Chicago, for example, Gomez said, “People don’t really know who Mango is. We’re creating the brand little by little.”
So far, the 4,000-square-foot Chicago store — named MNG by Mango for trademark reasons — has attracted many Asian customers who are familiar with the brand and others who have traveled to Europe or visited the company’s Web site.
Skinny jeans, dresses, leggings and outerwear are among the bestsellers. “We’re selling more coats here than at any other store,” Gomez said.
Customers have bought pencil-leg jeans for $69, black cocktail dresses for $75 and $85, three-quarter-length coats in ivory wool for $135 and in black wool with zippers for $89. Prices range from $20 to $250.
“We’re going for markets where we will be understood,” Gomez said, “and this [Chicago store] is a good test of the Midwest.”
Mango’s expansion into the Chicago area will continue with stores planned for Northbrook Court this summer and Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook in early fall.
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“Chicago is one of the most important cities in the U.S. from a retail as well as cultural perspective, and with regard to the Midwest, the place to be,” said Gomez, who declined to give first-year sales projections for the store.
Since May 20, Mango has opened eight U.S. stores averaging 5,000 square feet, including three locations in California and stores in Seattle and Washington. Mango plans to launch Las Vegas and Miami Beach locations at the beginning of 2007, open stores in Boston and Santa Monica, Calif., over the summer and unveil its 8,000-square-foot U.S. flagship at 561 Broadway in Manhattan in the fall.
Mango is striving for 20 U.S. stores by the end of 2007, but the company has not set a saturation point. “We really don’t have a number,” Gomez said. “The market will tell us.”