Russians are returning to the Soviet model without Western companies – MAAG and “Vkusno & tochka” instead of ZARA and McDonald’s

Hundreds of foreign retail companies – among the Western giants such as ZARA, IKEA and McDonald’s – they closed in the previous months their stores in Russia, in response to sending Russian troops to Ukraine in February 2022;

Russians’ access to Western goods such as burgers and Levi’s jeans—symbols of the “freedom” offered by capitalism when the Soviet Union collapsed—has been steadily curtailed, leaving some of Moscow’s most expensive streets lined with shuttered shops. and the country’s economy to suffer a blow of about 2.5 billion dollars.

Now, Russian designers and Russian brands are helping the retail industry recover, with new brands filling the void left by their foreign competitors and consumers warily returning to stores.

Russian designers and brands are helping the retail sector gradually recover from a turbulent 15 months of store closures and slumping demand, with new labels plugging the gap left by foreign rivals and shoppers tentatively returning https://t.co/1HSvFTp9ot

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 31, 2023

For example, Spain’s Inditex sold some of its more than 500 stores in Russia to a buyer based in the United Arab Emirates.

The flagship store Zara of the group in central Moscow, closed for over a year, reopened last month under new management and a new brand, the MAAGwith consumers generally being satisfied.

“It looks like nothing has changed since the … you know who was here,” Anton, a Moscow resident, told Reuters outside the store.

Antonina, also a resident of Moscow, said: “I didn’t find any differences apart from the range of options. Right now there are fewer things.”

Another example: Ta McDonald’s, after their withdrawal from the Russian market, they reopened last year under the brand name “Vkusno & tochka” (Delicious – full stop in free translation).

Russians have also turned to other solutions, with small-scale imports and online sellers helping to keep foreign brands alive – although some things remain hard to come by.

Tatiana Vakonina said she misses Swedish furniture giant IKEA and Zara the most. “Now we’re going to Kazakhstan for shopping,” he said. “But some things you can’t buy at all anymore.”

On the other hand, Irina Nikulina said that she doesn’t particularly miss foreign brands, except when she needs something simple, like a white T-shirt at a reasonable price.