Why the number of new brands is reduced in the Russian market
Against the background of a high base of last year and a low level of free space in the torgaccent, two times less new brands appeared in the Russian market than a year earlier. Russian brands continue to prevail, foreign companies have difficulties with building business processes in Russia due to sanctions.
The fact that in January -March of 2025 the number of brands entering the Russian market was reduced by a year by the year, to nine new brands, Kommersant reported in the CMWP consulting company. Analysts clarify that more than half of them are the brands of Russian operators. A similar trend is fixed in the consulting company Nikoliers: according to it, eight new retailers appeared in the country for the first quarter of this year, which is 58% less than a year earlier. Five of them – Russian, add consultants.
- During this period, the Russian market appeared Local brands Clothes Sashaverse and VOG, as well as the seller of children’s products Junion.
- Among foreign brands -German shoe retailer Kennel & Schmenger, Italian manufacturer of household appliances De’longhi, Chinese furniture company Jinkailai and Kazakhstan brand from the Gaissina Fashion segment.
The slow dynamics of entering the market for new retailers is dictated by a low level of free space in shopping centers, says Yevgeny Khakberdiev, director of the Department of Trade Real Estate of the NF Group. According to her, now only in Moscow the vacancy in shopping centers is 6.8%, but most of the free shopping spaces are low-format and are more intended for representatives of grocery retail, catering and fitness centers.
The situation affects the situation by the high cost of financing, which exceeds the profitability of even such a demanded by consumers of the fashion segment, says vice-president of the Union of shopping centers Natalia Kermedchieva. This factor especially interferes with the development of small companies, depriving them of sufficient amounts of funds, the expert explains.
In addition, after leaving the Russian Federation, a record number of new brands appeared on the Russian market from the Russian Federation, so the current reduction in discoveries can be explained by the effect of a high base, said Polina Afanasyeva, head of the CMWP research and analytics department. Russian brands occupying the liberated niches still prevail in the total volume of new discoveries, since their launch is much faster than foreign, Natalia Kermedchieva notes.
Foreign retailers are faced with sanctions restrictions, so the direct access to the Russian market is difficult for them, says Nadezhda Tsvetkova, head of the rental department of retail premises of the Core.xp consulting company. She explains that now new foreign projects are implemented through partnerships with local companies, such as franchises and distribution, or replaced by local analogues. However, Ms. Kermedchieva adds, many international brands in the conditions of the current political situation prefer to take a wait -and -see position so as not to incur reputation risks.
In the near future, the pace of entry of new brands to the Russian market will continue to slow down: by the end of 2025, their number will be reduced by 57% of the year, to 22 brands, predicts CMWP. The share of Russian brands will continue to prevail in the total volume of discoveries, says Evgeny Khakberdiev. This is confirmed by the CMWP data: about 60% of the brands declared to the output in 2025 are local stamps. At the same time, Polina Afanasyeva does not exclude, the activity of foreign companies will be restrained by the probable return to the Russian market of large international sellers.
