Some of the main Italian, German or American brands continue to make money in Russian malls, albeit less than before Western sanctions against Moscow, imposed almost a year ago after the invasion of Ukraine.
In the fortress, a large area in the northern region of the Russian capital, the vast majority of commercial establishments have always had their doors open and continue to function normally, as Lusa noted at the beginning of the week.
Russian customers continue to flock to the stores of South Korean Samsung, Italy’s Terra Nova, Intimissimi, Tezenis, Calzedonia and Franco Vello, France’s Yves Rocher and L’Occitane, Germany’s GipFel, Woolstreet, Gerry Weber and Bulmer, or the American Polo Assn and Scandi. Finland.
Ekaterina, a shopkeeper at Yves Rocher, told Lusa that the French cosmetics outlet has never closed and that “customer flow and purchasing power remains as it was before the conflict”.
“It seems that people have changed their mind. Despite having a very large and diversified inventory, we are still supplied in different ways,” said the employee.
Afraid that the stores’ management would react negatively, some sellers refused to make statements to Lusa, as was the case with Calzedonia.
At Tezenis, which specializes in women’s underwear, Zinaída assured that she had not noticed “any difference in the operation of the store” since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, maintaining the “volume of business”.
Piotre’s report, in the Samsung store, is less encouraging: “The number of customers is clearly lower, perhaps because we are witnessing a decline in purchasing power”.
“It should be taken into account that our items are priced high and customers think twice before making a purchase. But it was worse in March, at the beginning of the invasion. After that, things stabilized,” he told Lusa. the seller of the South Korean electronic brand.
Natacha is ahead of the Italian Intimissimi, which also never closed. Before the war, “we had three deliveries a week, now one,” he reports.
“The logistical routes are different now, but the quantities are the same. I even think that the purchasing power of the Russians has grown slightly.” Some of the merchandise is made in Sri Lanka, “although it always undergoes quality control that is done in Italy,” Natacha told Lusa.
Despite the sanctions imposed on the country for its invasion of Ukraine, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexandre Novak recently said at a government meeting that revenues from the sale of gas and oil have grown by 28 percent 2022.
According to official figures, inflation was 11.65 percent last year, a percentage that will have fallen earlier this year.
There are, among others, three major brands that are highly valued in the Russian capital and have suspended their activities in the territory of the Federation: the Spanish Zara, the Swedish H&M and McDonald’s.
The Russian McDonald’s restaurants were bought by magnate Alexandre Govor, who managed more than 25 McDonald’s branches in Siberia and was the general manager of several coal mines. He named his new venture, which mimics the North American multinational’s concept, graphics and menus, “Saboroso e Ponto Final.”
Source: DN
