MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s Inditex has temporarily closed some of its franchise-operated stores in Algeria due to operational problems though it is not considering ceasing operations in the country, the company told Reuters on Thursday.
The owner of Zara and other brands, which according to its latest annual report has 20 stores in Algeria, has at other times temporarily closed shops in countries such as Ukraine and Israel.
Inditex said the closures in Algeria are in response to operational problems that have made it difficult to renew stock in stores, without indicating how many are closed and when they would reopen.
Spanish online news website El Confidencial, which first published the information about store closures in Algeria, mentioned videos circulating on social networks showing stores with a sign that read: “Temporary closure”.
The United Arab Emirates-based Azadea Group, the Inditex partner that operates the company’s brands in Algeria and other countries in Africa and the Middle East, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Azadea also runs stores of other major global brands in markets other than Algeria.
No one at the Algerian government was immediately available for comment.
The world’s biggest listed fast-fashion company earlier this year reopened Zara stores in Ukraine and relaunched online sales, as well as resuming operations in Venezuela under a franchise agreement.
Inditex has 5,692 stores, according to its 2023 annual report, including 1,103 that operate under franchise agreements.
(Reporting by Corina Pons, additional reporting by Lamine Chikhi in Algiers, editing by Inti Landauro and Elaine Hardcastle)
