Russian sporting goods behemoth Sportmaster solidified its position as the country’s largest fashion retailer in 2023, thanks to a 14 percent hike in revenue to 160 billion rubles last year. Sportmaster generated nearly 70 percent more revenue than Kari and twice as much as Gloria Jeans; the companies ranked second and third in the list of the biggest Russian fashion retailers, respectively, a local news outlet, Retail Fashion, reported.
Generous advertising expenditures are believed to be a factor helping Sportmaster keep its sales high. The latest available data indicates that the company spent 1.2 billion rubles on advertising during the first eight months of 2023, more than any other fashion retailer in the country. Despite that, Sportmaster has relatively humble plans for business expansion. In the following 3 to 5 years, the company intends to add 96 doors to its retail chain. For example, Gloria Jeans is looking into boosting its chain by 205 stores. Melon Fashion Group, a prominent Russian retailer developing the Love Republic, Sela and Zarina brands, is on track to launch 500 new outlets.
One reason for Sportmaster’s moderate growth appetite is that the company plans to double down on its franchise development program. In previous years, the company prioritized the opening of directly managed stores, while in the coming years, routine growth will go hand in hand with the opening of small stores in the Sportmaster Mini format. Sportmaster plans to open such stores in 250 Russian cities with a population of up to 50,000. The key distinctive feature of Sportmaster Mini stores will be their relatively small shopping floors, limited to 100 to 300 sqm, while conventional Sportmaster stores can easily occupy 1,000 sqm.
In addition, Sportmaster plans to establish an independent retail chain to sell goods of the Italian brand Kappa, RBK, a local news outlet has recently reported, citing sources close to the matter. The first stores are due to launch in 2025, though additional details have yet to be available since both companies remained silent on their development plans. Kappa will not be the first European fashion brand to debut on the Russian market in the past few years. In March 2024, Teddy Group, which also owns Terranova and Calliope, opened the first Rinascimento brand store in Moscow.
RBC reported that Kappa is already well-known to Russian customers and is being presented in marketplaces and several multi-brand retail chains. There is a clear rationale behind the Sportmaster plans since the launch of stores with a well-elaborated product range could further spur the brand’s popularity in the country. On the other hand, the publication warned that a lack of shopping space in Russian shopping centers could put breaks on brand development.
