New Zara owners to announce store reopening dates next week

The new asset owners of Zara, which suspended the operation of its stores in Russia in March, will talk next week about the timing of the opening of stores, informed RIA Novosti Secretary of State – Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Evtukhov.

“The company will come next week and present the concept of how they will open: at what time, which stores, in which regions,” he said on the sidelines of the conference. X5 Group “Small business – a big shelf!”

According to Yevtukhov, the new owners of the company will have to complete a deal to acquire Zara’s assets in the country, which will require the approval of a government commission. “Only after that it will be possible to say that everything took place. And then step by step,” the deputy minister explained.

Zara suspended the work of its stores in Russia on March 5, 2022 amid the start of a Russian special operation in Ukraine, logistical problems and sanctions. In the Spanish concern Inditex (owns the brands Zara, Zara Home, Bershka, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, etc.) in April declaredthat the company plans to reopen stores in Russia when possible. According to El Mundo, there were 502 Inditex stores in Russia, 86 of them under the Zara brand. Russia accounts for about 8.5% of the group’s global EBITDA.

At the end of October, it became known that Inditex had reached an agreement to sell its business in Russia to the Daher group. At the same time, if Inditex decides to return to the Russian market in the future, then the Daher group has the possibility of potential cooperation through a franchise agreement.

The New Fashion Company, which manages the Zara brand in Russia, registered new domain names of potential online clothing stores, TASS reported at the end of December. Izvestia wrote that in addition to this, New Fashion received non-exclusive rights to the Zara / Zara trademark in Russia until February 2025.