Nastya Ivleeva will open a bar in Moscow

Blogger and TV presenter Nastya Ivleeva (real name – Uzenyuk) became a co-owner of a new bar in Moscow, Vedomosti found out. Alexander Pichugin, CEO and co-owner of the Feudal chain of bars (which, in turn, includes the franchise chains Hands Up! Bar, Evgenich, Nebar, El Chapo, Irisky, Spletni), became her partner in the project.

On December 16, Blesk LLC was registered, follows from the SPARK-Interfax database. Ivleeva owns 20% in this company, Pichugin owns another 80%. As the types of activity of the legal entity during registration, “activities of restaurants and food delivery services”, “retail trade in food products and serving drinks” are indicated.

Ivleeva, through her representative, confirmed to Vedomosti the plans to open a bar, defining its format as democratic. The institution, according to her, will work in the middle price segment. The opening of the institution is planned for the summer of 2023, Pichugin specified to Vedomosti.

In 2022, the total sales of the catering sector in the bars and clubs segment will amount to 300 billion rubles. (VAT included), which is approximately 25% higher than in 2021, estimates Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of the information and consulting agency Infoline-analytics. At the same time, the market will grow in monetary terms: in 2022, after the cessation of supplies of large Western brands, the cost of alcohol has risen, he explains.

In general, according to Rosstat, in January-November 2022, the turnover of restaurants, cafes and bars increased by 4.4% to 2.05 trillion rubles, in November in annual terms – by 15.2% to 215.6 billion rub.

Ivleeva had previously made an attempt to enter this market. In 2021, she announced the launch of the Kapelnitsa bar in Moscow, but these plans never came to fruition. To date, Kapelnitsa Group LLC (the legal entity of the bar planned to be launched) has filed two lawsuits, the total amount of claims of which is more than 25 million rubles. The subject of the dispute on the first (15.8 million rubles) is the fulfillment of obligations under loan and credit agreements. The lawsuit was filed by the former manager of the production company Ivleeva, Alexander Mokrov. The second lawsuit, for 9.5 million rubles, was filed by Depo LLC due to a dispute over the fulfillment of obligations under a lease agreement.

In 2021, Ivleeva also became the owner of a 45% stake in Bee Knees LLC, which produces food products. Easy Peasy chips are the key brand of this company.

Probably a deal [по вхождению Ивлеевой в ООО «Блеск»] was penniless in exchange for marketing activities from celebrities, Burmistrov believes. A similar opinion is shared by the Ombudsman in the Moscow restaurant market, the owner of the Meat & Fish chain, Sergei Mironov.

Investments in the launch of the bar will amount to 10–12 million rubles, which will be used to renovate the premises, purchase equipment and alcohol, estimates Vladimir Shershnev, managing partner of 8956 Oblomoff food. Burmistrov thinks they can reach 30 million rubles.

The partnership between Ivleeva and Pichugin can be successful, says Aleksey Andreev, managing partner of Depot branding agency. The presence of Pichugin in the project, as he explains, is a weighty argument for cooperation with various partners, investors and suppliers, and the name of Ivleeva will be able to attract visitors to the bar.

Ivleeva’s brand will be a significant help for business development, thinks Gleb Sakhrai, managing partner of the PRT communication group. But, as he notes, the key role, especially in the situation of falling incomes of the population, will still be played by how competitive the new business will be in terms of price-quality ratio.

Next year, the range of alcohol in bars will expand, since the Ministry of Industry and Trade allowed parallel imports in November, Burmistrov said. This will be a favorable factor for the development of the market in general and for the launch of a new bar by Ivleeva and Pichugin in particular, the expert concludes.