Yollo came out of coal – Newspaper Kommersant No. 38 (7483) dated 03/06/2023

The departure of large Western fashion chains from the Russian market led to the emergence of new unexpected players in the clothing retail segment. As it became known to Kommersant, the owner of the Yollo brand, which is preparing to open its first large store in the Moscow City business center, turned out to be Boris Rostovtsev, the father of a coal businessman and ex-official Ruslan Rostovtsev, who worked at different times in the mayor’s office of the capital and the administration Sochi. However, the plans of the new brand to immediately open a large store caused skepticism among experts: in their opinion, at first it is more profitable to create small points of sale.

A new clothing brand Yollo will appear in the place of the closed Swedish H&M store in Afimall City in the Moscow City business cluster, follows from a message on the shop windows. As Kommersant found out, it is being developed by Piknik LLC, which, according to SPARK-Interfax, is owned by Boris Rostovtsev, who is also the general director at Zhilstroyrekonstruktsiya LLC and Zubalovo LLC.

A number of media outlets call the businessman the father of Ruslan Rostovtsev, who in the early 2000s was deputy head of the department of urban planning policy, development and reconstruction of the Moscow government, and then moved to the position of the first head of the Sochi administration. Previously, the interests of the Rostovtsev family were not represented in clothing retail.

According to SPARK-Interfax, Ruslan Rostovtsev is a former co-owner and CEO of the Taldinskaya mining company operating in the coal segment. In 2018, the American version of Forbes reported that Ruslan Rostovtsev could be connected with the re-export of coal from Donbass, but the businessman always denied this. A Yollo representative told Kommersant that Ruslan Rostovtsev continues to be involved in the coal business and has nothing to do with the development of this brand. The Taldinsky Mining Company did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

Yollo explains that the brand will be managed by the newly created Genesis Fashion Group. The area of ​​the first Yollo store in Afimall City will be 1.3 thousand square meters. and will open this spring. Yollo will include women’s, men’s and children’s clothing lines. Genesis Fashion Group clarified that they plan to open new stores throughout Russia, as well as expand the range in the future through a separate sports line and home goods.

Fashion Consulting Group CEO Anna Lebsak-Kleymans notes that the area of ​​one store is more than 1 thousand square meters. m requires the brand to provide it every season with a fairly extensive new collection – at least 2-2.5 thousand models. At the same time, the production or purchase of such a volume of assortment for only one store may turn out to be unprofitable, the expert warns.

Evgenia Khakberdieva, Director of the Department of Retail Real Estate at NF Group, considers the strategy of regional expansion of the brand of the middle price segment to be effective. The competition there is lower than in the capital market, so the brand can quickly gain a foothold and develop, the expert adds. Mass demand is inevitably moving towards the budget supply, whose share exceeded 70% in 2022, Ms. Lebsak-Kleymans confirms. However, according to her, entering this price segment for a new brand is the most time-consuming and costly. A medium-sized business cannot withstand price competition, so most of these fashion market players open stores with an area of ​​​​up to 50-70 square meters. m, explains the expert.

According to NF Group, in 2022, more than ten new fashion brands opened stores in Russian shopping centers, but they occupy small areas. Large network retailers or department stores are developing more actively, says Evgeniya Hakberdiyeva. She notes that stores of household goods and children’s goods in the middle price segment also remain promising niches for development.

Alina Savitskaya