Uniqlo shops have reportedly been occupied by native manufacturers
Japanese informal put on retailer Uniqlo has ceased operations in Russia and offloaded all of its shops within the nation, the Vedomosti newspaper reported this week, citing an organization companion.
The data was confirmed by the homeowners of Russian purchasing malls the place Uniqlo shops had been beforehand positioned.
“Uniqlo has refused to lease premises for all its stores in Russia,” a Vedomosti supply was quoted as saying.
Most of Uniqlo’s former shops have already been occupied by Russian clothes manufacturers comparable to Lime and Gloria Jeans, based on the report.
Uniqlo halted operations in any respect of its 50 Russian shops final yr and ceased on-line gross sales following the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. The firm appeared reluctant to depart, and Uniqlo proprietor Tadashi Yanai defended the preliminary choice final March to maintain Russian shops open, saying that clothes is a “necessity of life.”
“The people of Russia have the same right to live as we do,” he mentioned on the time, earlier than the choice was reversed.
Over the previous yr, the retailer has been offloading its on-line stock to compensate for losses of over 10 billion rubles ($106 million), generated by the need to pay hire for closed shops. According to knowledge from Uniqlo Rus, the corporate earned 12 billion rubles ($127 million) final yr.
Although the authorized entity of the retailer has ceased all actions in Russia, Uniqlo doesn’t plan to liquidate it and hopes to sometime resume enterprise, the unnamed companion advised Vedomosti. However, they claimed it will be troublesome to take action because the model’s premises have been transferred to different companies. Uniqlo has additionally misplaced the belief of the homeowners of purchasing malls, so it will be unable to obtain preferential lease phrases, the supply acknowledged.
Nevertheless, Uniqlo merchandise proceed to be bought on some Russian marketplaces, probably underneath the present parallel import program, consultants interviewed by Vedomosti defined.
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(RT.com)