Inditex : Pull&Bear inaugura en Ferrol su primera tienda ‘for&from' de integración de personas con discapacidad

Pull&Bear thus debuts in Inditex's workforce integration programme, 'for&from', for people with physical, psychological or learning disabilities, having inaugurated its first store associated with this endeavour in Ferrol today. The establishment, located at no. 82, calle Real in this Galician town, will be managed by COGAMI (the acronym in Spanish for the Galician Confederation of Persons with Disability), through its special job centre, Integratex, and staffed with five people with different kinds of physical or intellectual disabilities. Pull&Bear's maiden 'for&from' store boasts Brooklyn Beckham as its sponsor, under the slogan Jump barriers and be in the right place

During the store's inauguration event, the president of COGAMI, Anxo Queiruga, highlighted the sustainability of Inditex's 'for&from' initiative from both the social and economic standpoints.

With this new opening, the Group platform for the workplace integration of persons with disability has 11 stores across eight Spanish cities, three of which in Galicia: Allariz (Ourense), Culleredo and Ferrol (A Coruña).

The Pull&Bear 'for&from' store in Ferrol will sell prior-season items at discounted prices under a franchise regime. The disabled staff will receive ongoing professional training and support from both COGAMI's experts and Pull&Bear's sales teams.

90 jobs for persons with disabilities

Inditex's 'for&from' programme got underway in Palafolls (Barcelona) in 2002 and today gives work to 90 people with some form of physical, psychological or learning disability across the platform's 11 existing stores operated under the various Group brands.

Today there are four 'for&from' stores in Galicia: two in Allariz, Ourense (Massimo Dutti and Tempe); one in Culleredo, A Coruña (Tempe); and the new Pull&Bear store in Ferrol. The 'for&from' store network is rounded out with six other stores in Catalonia: three in Palafolls, Barcelona (Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Oysho); one in Manresa, Barcelona (Stradivarius), one in Llagostera, Girona (Massimo Dutti) and the last in Igualada, Barcelona (Massimo Dutti); there is also one Tempe store in Elche, Alicante. All the stores are managed by charitable organisations specialised in integrating differently-abled people, such as COGAMI, Moltacte, APSA, Fundació Molí d'en Puigvert and APSA, among others.

In addition to demonstrating its ability to improve the quality of living of people with disabilities since it was created, the 'for&from' programme constitutes an important source of financing for Inditex's partner charities. After an initial donation by Inditex for the store's construction, the model becomes self-sustaining for the social entities via the money earned from the products sold. In 2015, the 'for&from' platform posted turnover of €5.3 million and a net profit of over €470,000 which has been reinvested in full in the projects run by the network's partner charities.

COGAMI

COGAMI has been creating opportunities for people with disabilities in Galicia for the last 26 years and sees this work as the way to achieve social equality. It currently has 12 social economy initiatives underway that employ over 800 people. Additionally, it runs a job orientation service that provides individual attention to more than 4,000 people every year, shares advice on accessibility and gives awareness briefing sessions in a bid to normalise disability in every aspect of society.