Column by Anatoly Kostyrev about the expansion of European brands

The hackneyed expression “money loves silence” is probably not so popular for nothing, and on the Russian fashion market this principle may turn out to be more effective than the previous policy of announcing aggressive expansion. Watching the change of signs in shopping centers, you begin to notice that in Russia recently European fashion brands have begun to quietly develop, which have been working in the country for a long time, but opened new outlets at a modest pace, and stepped up expansion, patiently waiting for the first crises of the outbreak of hostilities and store closures many competitors.

Italy’s Benetton, Calzedonia and Terranova, Germany’s New Yorker, Denmark’s Ecco, etc. seem to have opened at least a few new stores each over the past year. But, unlike the usual expansion strategies, they do not want to talk about it. The secrecy is maintained by consultants who do not give specific figures, which is why the scale of new discoveries can only be estimated from single messages from shopping centers or indirect signs like the number of vacancies.

On the HeadHunter portal, the Ecco chain posted vacancies for directors for 14 stores as of June 20, New Yorker in Russia is looking for managers of six facilities, and the Calzedonia group has 17 vacancies for managers or store managers. Companies open even flagship outlets, and also replace the departed Western brands. New Yorker in April launched the largest store on the Russian market with an area of ​​2.4 thousand square meters in Samara. m, Benetton in May in one of the shopping centers of St. Petersburg occupied the area of ​​Zara Home.

The secrecy of fashion brands is understandable. The other day, as Reuters reported, a manufacturer of confectionery products under the brands Oreo, Milka, operating in Russia, Mondelez “Barney Bear” Mondelez faced a boycott in Scandinavia: from, for example, the Elkjop retail chain, hotels, etc. Mondelez announced that they intend to do Russian business “independent with a self-sufficient supply chain” until the end of the year. How much this will help to cope with rejection in Europe is not yet clear. But the example clearly demonstrates that it is still better for Western business to avoid associations with Russia, especially when it comes to increasing market share.

For brands such as Benetton, New Yorker and Ecco, the moment for expansion looks very good. Brands are known, attractive locations in shopping centers are being vacated, and facility operators will obviously be more interested in a popular European brand than in another obscure Turkish or Russian one. But for domestic clothing and footwear manufacturers, this may mean that the chances of taking advantage of development opportunities are somewhat less than it seemed.