Fashion first for Perth

Spanish fashion retail giant Zara is planning to enter the booming Perth market with a $5 million dollar store in Murray Street mall.ZARAmelbourne

It will be the first major international fashion brand to enter Western Australia’s capital city, beating both H&M and Topshop.

Chainstore rivals Topshop and Zara have been opening stores in Australia since 2011, but both have largely concentrated their efforts so far on Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide.

The Spanish retailer lodged a development application with the City of Perth yesterday, reports The West Australian newspaper.

It is planning to develop a three-storey, $5 million dollar store in Perth’s Murray St mall.

But Topshop mightn’t be too far behind, with reports that the British fashion chain is in talks with Hawaiian, which owns Carillon City, for a spot in the CBD.

Topshop, which opened its first Australian flagship on Chapel St in late 2011, is reportedly eyeing off up to three floors of prime real estate as part of Carillon’s planned redevelopment.

Tim Bray, GM of corporate communications at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA, told The West Australian that Zara’s decision had been made easier by the recent relaxation of Perth’s trading hours.

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