Texto Mango En Ingles

Introduction

We were surprised as we entered Mango's offices: the surroundings were different from the

traditional facilities of an international company. Large spaces with no divisions, spacious

corridors decorated with mannequins dressed in the latest fashions and, above all, an

omnipresence of the company’s values in the form of pictures hung on the walls of the whole

building. The environment seems to breathe fashion and glamour. The offices are more like a

design center than the headquarters of a company where such a well-known brand such as

Mango is managed from. But as Enric Casi, Managing Director of the textile firm said, in order

to survive, “you have to have an identity, be different, exclusive and unique”.

However, this company’s secret is not solely based on characteristics that can be seen through a

simple visit, but rather behind the store-front - in crucial areas such as the logistics system, stateof-

the-art technology and a culture founded on human relationships. Thanks to their business

model, Mango has experienced rapid and sustainable growth over the last decade, but will this

model be suitable for the future, especially at a time of significant consumer crisis? Perhaps their

business is now mature and the difficult situation of the market will shake their dominant

position in the sector? Enric Casi, Managing Director of Mango and Xavier Carbonell,

Communications Director, speak calmly of their company’s position, assuring us that the

company is well organized and prepared internally for any surprise the market can throw at them.

However, despite the optimism, they recognize that, in turbulent times, they may be selling more

but in reality they are earning less. They state that, today more than ever, they need a solid

business base and an innovative management model in order to continue competing successfully

on a global level.

Mango’s History

Aimed at a young, modern audience, Mango is the second most important company in the

Spanish textile sector, with only Zara ahead of it. Their history begins in 1972 when the young,

entrepreneurial, Isaac Andik, the current main owner of Mango, started work in the fashion

sector. Isaak was born in Istanbul to a family of Sephardic origin, and at 13 years old moved to

Barcelona. During his studies at the American High School in Barcelona he had the idea of

selling his friends shirts imported from India and other Asian countries so that he could earn

some extra money to cover his expenses. The success of this venture encouraged him to set up

his own stand in the Balmes Market. During this time, his principal activity was the importation

of women's clothing from different countries and then getting it on the shelves of stores across

Spain. In his first store, which he did not wholly own, Isaak Andic sold clogs and blouses. Then,

in 1984, he decided to create his own company – Mango, a name that comes from the fruit,

which he saw for the first time while on vacation in the Philippines. The company names

registry rejected two other names, but accepted this one. The success of this small company and

his experience allowed Isaak Andic to create his own collection and open new stores, this time

his own. With this step he started to sell, not only in his own stores, but also in other multi-brand

stores, which quickly became exclusive Mango outlets. He took the next step the same year

when he realized that, although the clothes were of high-quality and the designs were widely

2

accepted by Spanish women, the product lacked a global concept that would make it attractive

enough to warrant further development to medium-scale. This concept had to be complete and

had to allow the unification of commercial efforts on the same front, encompassing tangible as

well as intangible characteristics: fashion, design, image and a good price-to-quality ratio.

Mango opened its first store in 1984 on Paseo de Gracia (Barcelona) and, within a year, had five

points of sale in the city. A little later, it began its expansion into the rest of Spain with the

opening of a store in Valencia. What had started off as a small group of collaborators began to

grow and, by 1988, the company had thirteen points of sale in Spain. In 1992 they took their first

steps outside of the national market with the opening of two shops in Portugal. The following

year, Mango opened their 100th store in Spain and, two years later, they implemented the

business management system that they continue to use today, based on specialized working

groups coordinated with each other.

Right from the beginning, Mango’s goal was to dress a young, urban clientele in high-quality

clothes, at an affordable price, without getting behind on the latest trends. Currently, 90 countries

have the Mango concept, from the hardest, most competitive markets where the customs are

nothing like those of Spain, to the most open ones. “To be present in all the cities of the world” is

the mission of the textile chain. At the end of 2008, Mango had managed to open 1200 points of

sale (including both franchises and their own stores) around the world, at a rate of three a week.

In 2007 the company turnover was 1,020 million Euros (8,2% more than the previous year) and

exports accounted for 76% of total turnover. Mango had 7,786 employees, 1,850 of which

worked in the head office in Palau-Solità i Plegamans (see Exhibit 1).

The activity of the organization is carried out at a number of their own facilities, located in the

head quarters at Palau-Solità i Plegamans in the Barcelona province (warehouse and offices) and

at two warehouses located near the head office: Montcada i Reixac and Terrassa, as well as

different stores both owned and franchised. They also use six more rented warehouses located in

the towns of Parets, Montornés and Sabadell (Barcelona), in the cities of Shenzhen and Hong

Kong (China), and in New Jersey (USA). In 2007, a new state-of-the-art, totally automated

logistics center was opened in Parets de Vallès (Barcelona). This center has a surface area of

24,000m2, which allowed the company to triple the previous distribution capacity. A 12,000m2

design center called “The Hangar”, located near the head office, has been running since 2006.

Product and design “made in MANGO”

The company handles the whole

...