Zara, the leading brand in the portfolio of Spanish retailer Inditex on the Romanian market, has fetched the company 32.7 million-euro revenues with just five stores, making it into the top five of players in the industry, after falling short of the one million-euro mark a year ago. Moreover, after a loss-making 2007, Zara made a 6.7 million-euro profit last year, meaning that each of the 266 employees of the Zara stores contributed 2,000 euros to the earnings of Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega Gaona, the brand's creator.

Zara has left behind underwear producer Jolidon, with 90 stores in Romania and 31.6 million euros in revenues, Staff Collection, which holds Romanian brand House of Art, and Rafar, RTC's fashion division, which has 28 stores and over 10 brands, and posted less than 30 million euros in turnover last year.

Inditex entered the Romanian market directly in 2007, after previously operating two stores, a Zara, and a Pull and Bear store, under a franchise agreement in Plaza Romania mall in Bucharest via retailer Azali Trading, which is part of the Azadea group.

The company ended its first year on the market in the red, with Zara alone recording a 0.2 million-euro loss, amid an 800,000-euro turnover.

However, the next year saw another four Zara stores opened in Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest (Baneasa Shopping City), Constanta and Iasi, which boosted the company's turnover, with the five stores posting a 6.7 million-euro profit, according to data reported on the website of the Ministry of Finance.

The company recruited over 200 staff for the new stores, ending 2008 with 266 employees, according to the same source.

The Mango brand, also present in five stores, did not manage to match its direct competitor Zara, contributing alongside more than 10 other brands, which include Promod, Castro, Max Mara Weekend and Karen Millen to the