All Russian stores of the popular Under Armor brand will be closed in the near future.
The very first store of the popular sportswear and footwear brand opened in Russia in 2017 in the Metropolis shopping center. The development of the network took place under a franchise, the rights to which were received by the Vostokinvest company.
Until recently, there were 10 Under Armor stores in the country, of which 8 were opened in Moscow, and two more in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. However, most of them are already closed. So far, only shops in Aviapark, Evropeisky and Mega Belaya Dacha are open. But, most likely, they will close in just a few days. The journalists did not manage to get any comments from representatives of Vostokinvest.
At the same time, in 2018, Vostokinvest owned 16 outlets that brought in billions of dollars in income. Experts believe that the decline of the network occurred due to a number of factors - too aggressive growth, high rental rates and an overestimated margin. The prospects for online sales were clearly underestimated. The very approach to the work of Vostokinvest was also questionable - there were clearly problems with purchases and commodity balances. At the same time, the chain had to compete with other eminent sports brands, whose activities are rated as more efficient. All this led to the fact that in the 2nd quarter of 2019 the company received a loss of one billion rubles.
However, the Russians will not be left without Under Armor. Surely, very soon the brand will find a new partner in Russia. Speculation is already being made that it could be a Zenden Group company. This major shoe retailer already owns chains of brands such as Mascotte, Thomas Munz and Zenden. The Zenden Group itself refrained from any comments.
