Clothing and footwear manufacturer Nike has not renewed its franchise agreement with Inventive Retail Group (IRG), the owner of the country’s largest single-brand chain of American retail stores. This was reported by the Vedomosti newspaper on May 25, citing a letter from IRG President Tikhon Smykov to company employees.
According to the newspaper, the decision not to renew the agreement is due to the fact that Nike will not be able to organize the supply of goods to Russia in the near future.
Nike has not renewed its franchise agreement with Inventive Retail Group (IRG), which owns the country’s largest single-brand American retailer, the newspaper writes.
The PR director of IRG confirmed to the publication that the supply of Nike products has been suspended, and the product itself is in short supply. She added that due to the current situation, the company will not be able to continue the work of mono-brand stores and will be forced to close them.
Moreover, a representative of the American retailer told Vedomosti that Nike had decided not to renew existing or enter into new business relationships “due to operational difficulties.”
It is clarified that IRG manages 37 Nike outlets, and from the information on the website it follows that nine stores are currently closed. From March to May, the number of Nike single-brand stores in the country has already dropped from 116 to 56.
On May 23, the Kommersant newspaper, citing several sources, spoke about the exit from the Russian market of the American clothing and footwear company Levi Strauss & Co, which owns the main Levi’s brand, after 29 years of operation. Now she is looking for buyers for part of her assets.
Against the backdrop of the withdrawal of some companies from the Russian market, it is reported that such brands as, for example, Reserved and House stores will open in Russia this coming weekend. However, Reserved Mega Belaya Dacha told Izvestia that the Reserved, House, Cropp, Mohito and Sinsay stores have already started working.
It was noted that the Reserved brand will work under the new sign Re, Mohito – M, Sinsay – “Sin”.
The fact that LPP Group will sell the Russian division to the Chinese consortium became known on May 19. It was indicated that the deal would not include the rights to use trademarks and brands owned by the Polish company.
In early March, major foreign brands began to announce the termination of their activities in Russia in connection with the start of a special operation by Moscow to protect the civilian population of Donbass on February 24. Many Western brands have paused their activities in the Russian Federation. Among them are Nike, Adidas, IKEA, Lego, Apple, Samsung. In the automotive industry, Skoda, BMW, Audi and others have suspended work with Russia.
On April 20, Director of the Department for Asia, Africa and Latin America of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia Sergey Nosov said that manufacturers from China could take the place of foreign companies that had left the Russian Federation.