Russian shopping centers are ready to replace American and European brands with Turkish and Chinese ones. The President of the Union of Shopping Centers Bulat Shakirov shared this information with the Russian newspaper Izvestia. A representative of the association has already traveled to Turkey to conduct negotiations to acquire more than 200 brands in development. In the meantime, the association’s professionals could also travel to China.
As a result of the Russian war in Ukraine, the shopping centers will have vacancies of 30-40 percent in the worst case. That means huge amounts of retail space need to be reoccupied.
How exactly the exchange will take place is still unclear.
Retailers such as H&M, Mango, Ikea and others have already announced that they will close their stores in the country. However, these companies have not informed the respective malls that they will be vacating the rented premises.
Local fashion companies are also reconsidering their own plans and considering opening new locations, including Detsky Mir, Sportmaster and Gloria Jeans.
Anton Belykh, CEO of DNA Realty, is convinced that foreign brands do not plan to leave Russia completely. In his opinion, it is merely a disruption to their business activities. Brands are examining to what extent it will be possible to maintain supply chains and the uninterrupted supply of goods, and how prices and purchasing power will change.
Foreign retailers exiting the Russian market are suffering heavy losses. According to Forbes, in 2021 the turnover of the Russian fashion market increased to 2.69 trillion rubles (about 19.2 billion euros). Clothing sales accounted for 67 percent of this turnover. Even experts could not exactly determine the exact number of international brands in Russia. Another factor to consider is that many companies in Russia operate on a franchise basis and some operate as joint venture companies with Russian capital.
This article was originally written in Russian and translated and edited into English by Kelly Press. Translated into German and edited by Simone Preuss.