Lime will be added to the apartments - Newspaper Kommersant No. 179 (7380) dated 09/28/2022

Lime will be added to the apartments - Newspaper Kommersant No. 179 (7380) dated 09/28/2022



Against the backdrop of the suspension of work in Russia by Zara Home, H&M Home and IKEA, Russian clothing chains have become interested in the home goods segment. Lime and Stockmann plan to enter this market, and the first outlets may appear in 2023. Experts note that competition in the home goods segment remains high, and new players may have problems with logistics.

Dmitry Khokhlov, the owner of the Lime clothing store chain, filed an application with Rospatent at the end of July for the registration of the Lime Home trademark, and discovered “Kommersant”. The list of goods specified in the document includes lighting fixtures, decor items, dishes and kitchen utensils, storage items, textiles, etc. Lime's plans to enter the household goods segment were also reported by two sources of Kommersant in the retail real estate market. Lime did not provide a comment.

lime is a Russian brand of women's clothing and accessories, created in 2008. More than 90 stores operate in Russia, there are also outlets in Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In 2021, the revenue of Style Trade LLC, the network manager, grew by 51%, to RUB 6.79 billion, while net profit almost doubled to RUB 553.34 million.

The head of the CORE.XP retail department, Marina Malakhatko, notes that the launch of new stores with household goods may be promising given the departure of H&M Home from Russia and the closure of Zara Home. In addition, trading operations in the country suspended the Swedish IKEA. Evgenia Khakberdieva, regional director of retail real estate at Knight Frank Russia, adds that Lime as a whole could become one of the main contenders to replace the outgoing international chains. And the expansion of formats should help attract additional audiences, she points out. In addition to the home goods segment, Lime plans to launch men's and women's clothing lines. Dmitry Khokhlov also filed applications with Rospatent for the registration of the Lime Kids and Lime Man trademarks. According to Ms. Malakhatko, Lime has a request for approximately 2,000 sq. m. m of new space, including on the site of Zara and H&M stores in shopping centers.

The Stockmann department store chain is also planning to develop stores with household goods, its general director Gennady Levkin told Kommersant. According to him, the first Stockmann Home store could open in the Festival shopping center in southwestern Moscow in the first quarter of 2023. Stockmann already has household goods in its assortment, so launching separate outlets for this direction is logical, says Mr. Levkin. According to Marina Malakhatko, Lime is unlikely to launch a new format before the fall of 2023 amid the ongoing crisis.

Fashion Consulting Group CEO Anna Lebsak-Kleymans adds that difficulties can also arise in business processes, primarily with the organization of logistics. However, Between2countries managing partner Leyla Pavlova sees no problems in building logistics and relationships with suppliers, including European ones, when developing the format of stores with household goods.

In addition, Ms. Lebsack-Kleymans continues, household goods are not an empty market at all, there are already concepts in any price segment. Among the main players, she names the networks "Your House", Hoff, "Domovoi", Leroy Merlin, Cozy Home. In addition, the offer of household goods is actively developing on online platforms, including through former IKEA suppliers, the expert recalls. For example, the section "IKEA products and analogues" was launched on "Yandex Market". New Russian brands are also appearing on the market. In July, the Tashir group of Samvel Karapetyan opened the first Zebra Home store in Moscow, and by the end of this year plans to open ten more outlets with an area of ​​​​up to 10 thousand square meters. m with an expanded range.

Although Alexander Shkenev, Deputy Commercial Director for Assortment Development of the VseInstrumenty.ru online hypermarket, notes that, despite competition, the market is not yet consolidated and new players have opportunities for development. Since March 2022, the demand for home goods in the hypermarket has grown by 80%, he points out.

Alina Savitskaya, Anatoly Kostyrev



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