<P> Reportedly, Zara needs just one week to develop a new product and get it to stores, compared to the six - month industry average, and launches around 12,000 new designs each year . Zara has a policy of zero advertising; the company preferred to invest a percentage of revenues in opening new stores instead . </P> <P> Zara set up its own factory in La Coruña (a city known for its textile industry) in 1980, and upgraded to reverse milk - run - type production and distribution facilities in 1990 . This approach, designed by Toyota Motor Corp., was called the just - in - time (JIT) system . It enabled the company to establish a business model that allows self - containment throughout the stages of materials, manufacture, product completion and distribution to stores worldwide within just a few days . </P> <P> Most of the products Zara sells are manufactured in proximity countries like Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco . While some competitors outsource all production to Asia, Zara manufactures its most fashionable items--half of all its merchandise--at a dozen company - owned factories in Spain and Portugal and Turkey, particularly in Galicia and northern Portugal and Turkey . Clothes with a longer shelf life, such as basic T - shirts, are outsourced to low - cost suppliers, mainly in Asia . </P> <P> The company can design a new product and have finished goods in its stores in four to five weeks; it can modify existing items in as little as two weeks . Shortening the product life cycle means greater success in meeting consumer preferences . If a design does not sell well within a week, it is withdrawn from shops, further orders are canceled and a new design is pursued . Zara monitors customers' fashion changes . Zara has a range of basic designs that are carried over from year to year, but some fashion forward designs can stay on the shelves less than four weeks, which encourages Zara fans to make repeat visits . An average high - street store in Spain expects customers to visit three times a year . That goes up to 17 times for Zara . </P>

When did the first zara store open in the uk