GLOBAL fashion giant Zara is set to expand across Melbourne with plans for a superstore on Chapel Street and several other outlets in suburban shopping centres.
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The plans for rapid growth follow the launch of its first store on Bourke Street last year, which has defied tough trading conditions that forced department store rivals Myer and David Jones into a discounting war.
Representatives of Spanish company Inditex Group that controls Zara have inspected several sites along Chapel Street, including a two-storey building occupied by Chasers nightclub.
According to retail industry sources, Zara is keen to establish a presence in the popular South Yarra precinct after the successful opening of British-owned retailer Topshop last December.
Zara is also negotiating retail leases at Doncaster Shoppingtown, Chadstone Shopping Centre and Highpoint in Maribyrnong.
An Inditex spokeswoman confirmed the expansion plans for Zara, but denied Chapel Street was on the company's radar. A spokesman for Telzog Heights, which owns the building occupied by Chasers, declined to comment.
Deakin University retail industry expert Steve Ogden-Barnes said overseas retailers such as Zara and Topshop were exploiting the ''exoticism'' of their brands to penetrate the Australian market. And unlike other retailers, such as Harvey Norman and Myer, Zara had benefited from the proliferation of online retailing, he said.
''Nobody comes here to open one store. The rise of online shopping has made consumers far more aware of global brands like Zara and they're extremely good at grabbing attention and making headlines,'' Mr Ogden-Barnes said.
He said traditional department stores and retail chains had lost their lustre with some consumers. ''If there's a Witchery on every corner or a David Jones in every shopping centre, they become part of the natural landscape. But the exoticism of these overseas retailers makes them very attractive when they appear in bricks and mortar on the High Street.
David Jones spokeswoman Helen Karlis disagrees and says Zara poses a greater threat to specialist fashion outlets.
''Department stores and Zara already coexist globally. Their [Zara's] arrival has led to more foot traffic through our stores … We think the smaller fashion chains have more to be concerned about,'' Ms Karlis said.
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