Spanish fashion label Mango is to scale down its expansion plan in China, shifting its focus to e-tail channels. 

Mango told Fashion Network in an interview that it will prioritise its online business in China instead of rolling out physical stores due to the growth of the e-tail sector since the pandemic. Besides its online store, the brand also operates on Alibaba’s e-commerce site Tmall.  

In 2019, Mango planned to expand its presence in China with 16 new brick-and-mortar stores and other local e-stores in partnership with Hangzhou Jingzhe Clothing. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the retailer was forced to close its stores in China at the end of last January, when only 26 of them were active. 

The change in the expansion strategy also led to the departure of its former CEO in China, David Sancho, who was responsible for the store network.

Besides its retail stores, Mango also has 242 factories in China that manufacture about 30 per cent of the group’s products.