Brands are turning into multi – Newspaper Kommersant No. 47 (7492) of 03/21/2023

The opportunity to occupy large areas in shopping centers, vacated after a number of Western brands left the Russian market, led to the emergence of new players in the fashion segment of the country. So, the former top manager of the Tsvetnoy department store, Irina Ryabko, is launching the Remark multi-brand store project with the financial support of WS Capital, in the creation of which, according to some media reports, ex-employees of billionaire Gennady Timchenko’s structures participated. This format is also interesting for Western clothing brands that do not want to completely curtail their sales in Russia: in this case, the delivery of collections is carried out by intermediaries.

The former top manager of the Tsvetnoy department store and a member of the board of directors of the Stockmann chain, Irina Ryabko, launched the Remark multi-brand store project, NF Group told Kommersant. The first point of sale was opened in Outlet Village “Belaya Dacha”. This year it is planned to launch two more outlets and an online store. “Remarque” is considering premises with an area of ​​​​2-5 thousand square meters. m in Moscow and St. Petersburg, said consultants in the real estate market.

In SPARK-Interfax, Ms. Ryabko is listed as the CEO of Remark Department Store JSC, and the founder is WS Capital Limited Liability Company. In 2018, this company invested in the Citymobil taxi service, selling its stake in a joint venture between Sberbank and Mail.ru Group two years later. The ultimate beneficiaries of WS Capital are unknown. Earlier, RBC reported that several top managers from among the former employees of various structures of Gennady Timchenko worked at WS Capital. However, WS Capital denied this information to Forbes.

Remark’s product range will include clothing, accessories and household goods from local and international brands. Among the local brands are, for example, Studio 29, MERE, ZNWR, international – Marni, Isabel Marant, IRO, Palm Angels, Off-White. Irina Ryabko notes that the format of Remark stores involves a constructor of brands and services, which may vary depending on the site, its location and the preferences of the target audience. Thus, only past collections of international brands will be presented in the Belaya Dacha Outlet Village, and the assortment of future stores is planned to be replenished, including through new arrivals.

Evgenia Khakberdieva, Director of the Department of Retail Real Estate at NF Group, notes that today it is more interesting for international brands to sell their products on multi-brand sites. Many such retailers cannot openly operate in Russia, only through online sales and department stores, in which case the purchase of goods is through intermediaries, Ms. Khakberdieva explains. Brands that do not want to be placed on marketplaces are especially interested in cooperation with multi-brand sites, Dania Tkacheva, business consultant for sales management and strategic development, believes.

Stockmann CEO Gennady Levkin says that from time to time there are difficulties with replenishing the range of foreign brands, but they are quickly resolved. Local brands also face difficulties in logistics, in finding suppliers of fabrics and accessories, as they are expected to grow sharply, and demand for their products exceeds supply, says Nikolai Konstantinov, CEO of Trend Island. He believes that multi-brand projects have room for development, and their number will continue to grow.

In general, due to the departure of major international fashion brands, retail property owners have a request for anchor stores with stable traffic, says Anna Lebsack-Kleymans, CEO of Fashion Consulting Group. Such points of sale also include multi-brand stores, for example, Telegraph, Slava, Concept.m store. At the same time, most multi-brand projects focus only on Russian or foreign brands, Dania Tkacheva says.

But despite the active development of stores of this format, they still do not have a concept tested in practice and a clear target audience, says Mr. Levkin. In his opinion, this does not allow them to compete with such full-fledged department stores as TSUM, Stockmann, Tsvetnoy and Trend Island.

Alina Savitskaya