The luxury clothing company Moncler has decided to enter the Russian market. The retailer will open its flagship store right in the heart of Moscow, on Stoleshnikov Lane, where any Russian shopaholic can find several lux brands.
According to Kommersant, Moncler has already signed a lease agreement for 1,615 square feet. However, there is still no official statement from Moncler regarding this information. The head of Jones Lang Salle’s street-retail department, Svetlana Yarovaya, says management of Moncler’s flagship store in Russia is estimated to cost between $900,000 and $1.2 million annually.
Yarovaya leaves open the possibility that, in the first few months, Moncler's sales will be rather high in Russia. "We have been waiting for this brand in Russia; our customers are familiar with it, since seeing it in numerous European stores," she says.
Before Moncler, a few other companies had also decided to represent themselves on the Russian market on their own — for example, Prada and Gucci. Earlier, both Prada and Gucci cooperated with Mercury Group, which used to own exclusive rights to these brands in Russia. As of today, these brands lease premises themselves.
According to Darya Yadernaya, a representative of Esper Group, as of 2012, the volume of the Russian luxury market has risen by 13 percent — up to $7.6 billion. In the meantime, however, luxury goods distributors should not rely on an increase in sales on the Russian market.
"The peak of satisfaction in the high-price segment will be reached in the next few years," Yadernaya says. In addition, Russians have a tendency to buy clothing and accessories abroad: The total cost of goods from the purchase of which they had tax refunded exceeded $1.5 billion.
First published in Russian in Kommersant.
All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
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