Zara is preparing to reopen stores in Ukraine that it closed when the full-scale war broke out, the Financial Times reports, UNN writes.
Details
"Inditex, the Spanish owner of Zara, has told local landlords that it will begin reopening its stores in Ukraine in early April, where their nearly two-year closure has left them black spots in previously bustling shopping centers," the newspaper writes.
Inditex is planning to reopen 50 of its more than 80 stores in the country, the company has told the Financial Times. Its decision follows months of being bombarded by Ukrainian media and retailers with questions about when it would reopen.
Inditex closed its 84 stores in Ukraine, including the brands Zara, Pull& Bear, Massimo Dutti, and Bershka, on February 24, 2022, the day of the full-scale Russian invasion. Since then, the company has stopped supplying goods to the country, but continued to pay taxes and salaries to its 1,000 Ukrainian employees, although most of them were at home without work. Inditex kept its lease agreements with landlords during the closure of the stores, but did not disclose the terms.
The Spanish group, which owns approximately 5,700 stores in more than 90 countries, will open gradually, starting with 20 stores, including three Zara outlets, in Kyiv shopping centers.
The total number of companies in the country will eventually grow to 50, but Inditex cannot say how long this process will take.
The company emphasized that Inditex will prioritize the safety of employees and customers and will adapt its plans to market circumstances. Some Ukrainian employees have already been sent to Poland for training and preparation for returning to work.
The 34 stores that will remain closed are located in parts of southern and eastern Ukraine directly affected by the war, where the Ukrainian government has banned commercial activity, the newspaper notes.
"Inditex has left Russia, once its second-largest market in terms of stores after Spain, by selling about half of its 500-plus stores to the United Arab Emirates' Daher group and closing others. However, it has retained the option to return to Russia if the situation changes," the publication says.
To add
The Spanish retailer, the world's largest fashion holding company by sales, is the most important global retailer to return to Ukraine. But it is also one of the last, the publication points out.
Retailers, restaurants, and bars began to gradually open their doors in the spring of 2022. H&M, which had eight stores in Ukraine before the war, reopened in November 2023.
According to a study published last year by the Ukrainian Retail Association, retailers' revenues fell from $37 billion before the war in 2021 to $30 billion in 2022, even with inflation of 26 percent.