Russian furniture manufacturers occupy vacant retail space

The space of IKEA, which left the Russian market, which belonged outside the Mega shopping complexes, is beginning to be occupied by local furniture companies. Thus, Kaliningrad Lazurit will develop a new multi-brand hypermarket in the Moscow shopping center “Europolis”, where there was previously an urban format store of the Swedish manufacturer. Russian manufacturers were previously reluctant to open large stores due to the lack of serious competencies in merchandising, in which IKEA was strong. Lately, local producers have not had much more of them, experts say.

Russian furniture manufacturer Lazurit will open the first multi-brand hypermarket of furniture and household goods with an area of ​​7 thousand square meters at the end of October. m in the Europolis shopping center in Moscow on the site of the former urban format store of the Swedish IKEA that left Russia, the company told Kommersant. The volume of investments in the hypermarket amounted to more than 100 million rubles.

The hypermarket will feature products from 50 Russian manufacturers of furniture and interior products, household goods, including Angstrem, Moon, Stilnye Kitchens, as well as household appliances, the company specified. At the same time, now the assortment of Lazurit branded showrooms mainly consists of furniture of its own production. The manufacturer is also negotiating the opening of multi-brand hypermarkets in large shopping centers in all cities with a population of over a million, Alexander Anosov, director of the company’s department for development and management of rental relations, told Kommersant.

Before the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine in the spring of 2022, IKEA had 14 furniture centers in the Mega shopping malls, which belonged to the Swedish company itself (at the beginning of October 2023, they were transferred to Gazprombank). Three smaller IKEA City outlets also operated in Moscow: they were located in rented space in other shopping centers within the city. In addition to Europolis, there were such stores in Mozaik and Aviapark. The space in the latter was occupied by the Furniture Room store at the beginning of this year.

Furniture hypermarkets are becoming popular among buyers – this allows them to buy everything in one place, says Maxim Valetsky, co-founder of the furniture company Mr.Doors. But this format, according to him, can only work in the mass segment, since buyers of premium furniture expect higher service.

The departure of IKEA from the Russian market has pushed many local furniture retailers to increase store space, states Irina Bolotova, a partner in the Pro.Story retail space organization service. Thus, Askona opened its first hypermarket with an area of ​​5 thousand square meters this year. m. Mr.Doors plans to open its first salon with an area of ​​about 1 thousand square meters in 2024. m, expanding the range with new upholstered furniture of our own production and household goods, says Maxim Valetsky.

Plans to open larger hypermarkets are a new trend in the furniture retail segment. Now the average size of mono-brand stores of Russian manufacturers is 500–700 sq. m. m, says Irina Bolotova. However, in her opinion, entering a new format for furniture makers forces them to increase their assortment, working with third-party brands.

Purchasing household goods is an impulse purchase, which requires competent merchandising, which IKEA was strong in, adds Ms. Bolotova. Experts and market participants interviewed by Kommersant admit that local market players still do not have many such competencies.

Alina Savitskaya