Castro (clothing)

Infobox Company
name = Castro Model Ltd.
קסטרו מודל בע"מ
company_
type = Public (TASE|CAST)
foundation = flagicon|Israel Tel Aviv, Israel (1973)
location_city = Bat-Yam
location_country = Israel
location =
locations =
key_people = Aharon Castro (Chairman)
Gabriel Rotter (CEO, Director)
Esther Rotter (CEO, Director)
Shay Offir (CEO) [http://finance.google.com/finance?q=TLV%3ACAST Google Finance] ]
area_served = Israel
Germany
Latvia
Romania
Russia
Switzerland
Thailand
Ukraine
industry = Fashion
products = clothing, cosmetics, fashion accessories
services =
operating_income =
revenue =
net_income =
num_employees = 1,718 (2007)
parent =
subsid =
slogan =
homepage = [http://www.Castro.com Castro.com]
dissolved =
footnotes =
intl =

Castro (Hebrew: קסטרו) is an Israeli clothing company specializing in both men's and women's fashions. Publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the company is valued at 103 million US dollars. [http://www.castro.co.il/Site/en/About.asp?l=EN&f=6 Castro: About Us] ]

The chain has 86 branches, with 47 Castro stores, and 39 Castro Men stores, with locations in Israel, Germany, Latvia, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand, and Ukraine. [http://www.castro.com/corporate/aboutCastro/aboutCastro_en.asp Castro corprate: About Us] ] Controlled by the Castro and Rotter families, who together hold 64% of the company's shares, the company's sales turnover reached approximately ₪533 million in fiscal 2006.

History

The company was founded by Aaron Castro, a Greek Jew from Thessaloniki, Greece whose family immigrated to Israel when he was a young boy and whose mother was a fashion designer.

In the 1950s, he opened a small corner store in Tel Aviv, called Nina, after his mother's name. As the business grew and the basement of the store became a small factory, the store's name was changed to Castro, and it made ready to wear clothing.

The 1960s saw the clothing being sold in other stores as well as the chains Hamashbir and Shekem. In 1965, Castro moved to direct marketing with "Rio", a factory outlet in Tel Aviv.

In 1975 Castro would begin exporting its clothing to Europe. The year 1985 saw the opening of Castro stores with the first one in Tel Aviv on Dizengoff Street, following with other Tel Aviv locations and then around Israel in shopping malls. By the 1990s, Castro had over 1000 workers across Israel. In 1992, Castro filed its IPO, going public. In 1994, Castro launched its cosmetics line by a licensing agreement. Castro has been responsible for the Olympic Israeli team uniforms since the 1996 Olympics and from 1999 until 2002, Castro won Israel's fashion "Oscar."

In August of 2000, Castro opened Castro Men. Also, 2003 saw the beginning of international expansion with stores in Germany. In 2005. Castro entered into a joint (50%) ownership of an international accessories chain, DIVA, with England-based DCK Concessions and today has 24 stores.

The year 2007 saw the chain launch Castro Jeans. [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1186557461141&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull JPOST: Market Wise] ] An innovative system where the customer finds a pair of basic jeans that fit perfectly, at which points the woman takes note of the name and finds a fancier jean style to her liking. At this point, this woman knows her particular cut to buy from the store.

References

ee also

*Honigman
*TNT
*Renuar
*Fox

External links

* [http://www.Castro.com/ Castro.com]