New stores were opened in all geographic regions; strong space growth continued, helped by major openings across all of the Group's concepts. Over the nine months, net new openings hit 154 in Europe, 34 in the Americas and 70 in Asia and the rest of the world, bringing the global footprint to 6,570 stores across 88 markets.
All of the Group's concepts had net new openings over the period and continued to roll out their newest store images. Specifically, during the third quarter, Stradivarius opened its first store in the UK, Massimo Dutti launched in Austria and Pull&Bear opened its first store in the Philippines.
Some highlights over the quarter include four new Zara stores in Australia (Sydney, Perth and Brisbane), a further four Zara stores in Germany (Bremen,
Stuttgart, Berlin and Hagen), plus another three in Brazil (Fortaleza, Santa Catarina and Vila Velha), two in the US (California and Virginia), two in Japan (Osaka and Kawasaki) and eight in China, as well as new Zara stores in cities such as Seoul, Cape Town and Vienna.
Highlights among the Group's other concepts include: the new Massimo Dutti store in the historic heart of Vienna (Kholmarkt, 9) and in Seoul (Coex Mall); three new Pull&Bear stores in Germany (in Dresden, Stuttgart and Oberhausen); two new Bershka stores in Japan (Osaka and Utsunomiya) plus another four in Germany (Berlin, Stuttgart, Mannheim and Dresden); as well as further openings in major shopping districts in cities such as Osaka, Nagoya and Rio de Janeiro. In November, Zara Home launched in South Korea and Hungary.