Have you ever wondered how the famous Spanish clothing company 'Zara' got its name?
Some of you may have thought that behind the name 'Zara' hides an elegant Spaniard who inspired the owner of the famous chain of stores. However, that is far from reality because a Greek-inspired the name 'Zara'... Alexis Zorbas.
When Zara founder Amancio Ortega was looking for a name for his first store in La Coruña, Spain, in 1975, he decided to call it "Zorba" from the 1964 film "Zorba the Greek", Zara’s communications director, Jesus Echevarría told the New York Times.
However, two blocks down from Ortega's shop, another Spaniard had the same inspiration and opened a bar called 'Zorba.' He complained it would be too confusing to have two Zorbas in the same town, one selling beers and the other clothes. So, Ortega was forced to change the name of his clothing store.
By rearranging some of the letters, Ortega came up with the new name 'Zara'.
"I don’t believe they aimed to make history; it was just a nice name. However, there happened to be a bar named 'Zorba' located just two blocks away, and the bar owner expressed concerns, saying, 'Having two Zorbas in town would cause confusion.' Since they had already created the moulds for the sign's letters, they decided to rearrange them to find an alternative. That's how they arrived at 'Zara,'" Echevarría explained.
Zara specializes in fast fashion and offers a range of products, including clothing, accessories, shoes, swimwear, beauty, and perfumes. Currently, there are 2007 Zara stores operating in 96 countries.
