French clothing, footwear and accessories brand Kiabi plans to close all its stores in Russia in the first half of 2022, a representative of the company’s Russian office told RBC. According to him, the withdrawal from Russia is due to the fact that the company failed to find “its own unique business model” in the Russian market.
Kiabi has a total of 17 stores in Russia. They are located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Ufa, Kazan, Samara and Voronezh. RBC’s source said that representatives of the retailer began negotiations to terminate lease agreements in December. It could take three to six months to close all stores, he said.
“We have already notified all partners and employees of the company and will gradually close all stores in Russia,” the press service of the Russian office of Kiabi confirmed to RBC.
Another source of the publication believes that Kiabi’s decision to close stores in Russia may be due to poor operating performance. According to SPARK-Interfax, the Russian legal entity Kiabi (Keruska LLC) has suffered losses for at least the last five years. In 2020, the revenues of the retailer in the country decreased by almost 31%, to 3.2 billion rubles, and the loss increased by 25%, to 667 million rubles.
Kiabi was founded in 1978. Specializes in the sale of inexpensive men’s, women’s and children’s clothing. It operates about 500 stores in 18 countries. Has been working in Russia since 2008.
In June, it was reported that the Kiabi chain of stores could launch a franchise in Russia. In July, Vedomosti wrote that the corners of Kiabi stores could open in Auchan hypermarkets.
.