Russia Falls into the Gap
Leading world clothes sellers Inditex Group of Spain and Swedish Hennes & Mauritz are already active in Russia, and now their oldest competitor, America’s Gap, Inc., is joining the fray. The Turkish Fiba Holding A.S. will open Gap and Banana Republic stores on a franchise basis. Gap became disappointed with the European market several years ago. It sold its German division to Hennes & Mauritz and hired European designers to divine the tastes of the French and British. Gap and Fiba reached an agreement on opening stores in Ukraine at the end of last year and began negotiations on Russia at the same time.
There will be 45 stores in Russia, opening in the next five years. The first Gap will open this summer, and Banana Republic will premier next year. The first stores will be in Moscow shopping malls and will occupy 600-1000 sq. m. They will sell clothes in the upper-mid range of prices, with jeans selling for €60-90 and T-shirts for €20-40.
Fiba Group was founded in 1987. It is controlled by the Ozegin family. It has assets in banking, insurance, licensing, investment, retail, real estate, energy and aviation. It is developing the Marks & Spencer and GAP chains in Turkey. Its 2007 receipts totaled $803.78 million.
Gap is the world’s largest seller of clothes. It was founded in the United States in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher. It manages 3100 stores in the U.S., Canada, France, Great Britain, Ireland and Japan. Its main trademarks are GAP, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Piperlime. Its receipts in 2007 were $15.8 billion, of which $14.148 came from North America.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 22, 2008
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