Mango supply chainMarcel Planellas, general secretary of the Esade business school, describes the Mango fashion retail chain as “gazelle-like” because it has grown so quickly. The fashion retail chain opened its doors in 1984 when two brothers, Isaac and Nahman Andic, opened the first Mango store in Barcelona. Less than 25 years later, there are 1,114 Mango stores in the main shopping streets of major cities in more than 90 countries. It is now, according to Planellas, “one of the most valuable retail brands in the world.” Interbrand, the international consultancy company. He says Mango's revenues amount to around 700 million euros. Esade developed a case study of Mango, recently published on Expomanagement, the largest management forum of the Spanish management training company HSM. In an interview with Universia-Knowledge@Wharton, Planellas observes that when he asks students to explain the strategy of Mango, their first response often focuses on positioning their stores in places frequented by a specific market segment: young women who love fashion. Beyond that, “some students go further, focusing on what happens in [the company's] warehouses and how the company has structured its supply chain and the technology it uses [for logistics]. But very few pay attention to corporate culture and virtually no one has a global vision [of Mango].” Planellas believes there is something contradictory in Mango. “The chain is well known on a popular level throughout the world but is almost unknown from a managerial point of view.” It asks this question: "How many people know that Mango doesn't make any of the clothing it sells?" “We have a very focused strategy,” observes Enric Casi, CEO of Mango. “We cater to women who want the latest fashion trends. If we aimed at the entire public we would not be faithful to our real customers." Casi says his target is “30% of the people who pass by our stores; we couldn't try to attract them all 100% because we would lose our identity." Casi adds: “Our women don't go shopping; they go to Mango." In addition to various promotional campaigns, the brand's values ​​are strengthened "by style and design because every year we create four collections thanks to the teamwork of our over 900 designers." He adds: "The stores are not just for sell [items of clothing] but also to obtain information [about them]." According to Casi, when a customer chooses an item to try on, it is because she likes the design, the material and the colors.