JYSK invests around UAH 400 mln in its chain development in Ukraine in 2022-2024

MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - The JYSK international retail chain has invested around UAH 400 million in the development of its chain in Ukraine in 2022-2024 and has plans to open 12 stores in 2025, JYSK Country Director in Ukraine Yevgeny Ivanitsa was quoted by Ukrainian media as saying at a press conference.

"The first franchise store of Nordic goods for sleep and home opened in Kiev 20 years ago. JYSK purchased the franchise from a local franchisee 12 years ago, in October 2012, and began developing its chain independently on a new market for Danish businesses. Currently, we have a chain of 100 stores in 35 Ukrainian cities. Overall, we have invested around UAH 400 million since the beginning of the crisis, have opened 20 stores, refurbished 17, and have rebuilt six," Ivanitsa said.

The company is most actively developing the modern concept 3.0. In total, 77% of the chain's stores have already been re-equipped in line with this concept, and another 12 stores are expected to be retrofitted in the next fiscal year.

The chain is also operating another three formats, that is, eight JYSK Outlet stores, five larger JYSK XL stores (in Kiev, Dnepr, Odessa and Ternopol, which offer a broader assortment) and three relatively smaller JYSK Compact stores (in Kiev and Lvov).

In general, the company is focused on developing a standard concept 3.0, which provides for a retail area of 900 to 1,200 square meters, a storage facility with a capacity of 1,500 cubic meters, a social area of 50 to 60 square meters, and, if possible, a terrace for garden furniture, Ivanitsa said.

To date, nine locations have been determined out of the announced 12 openings of stores for the next fiscal year, and contracts have already been signed for six of them. "Most of the lease agreements have been signed as a percentage of turnover, which confirms that we are trusted," Ivanitsa added.

The online store is actively developing, he said. There have been 12 million visitors and more than 20 million sessions in the 2023-2024 financial year.

The B2B department was spun off into a separate department in the fall of 2023. This segment generated nearly 5% of sales at the end of the fiscal year.

"B2B is a very important area for us. Clients include hotels, restaurants, charitable organizations, and embassies," Ivanitsa said.

"JYSK has more than 330 suppliers from all over the world. Twelve of them are Ukrainian ones. The share of Ukrainian suppliers in the chain is higher than the share of Ukrainian stores in the chain. We have purchased goods of Ukrainian producers for UAH 4 billion since the beginning of the crisis. And more than 98% of them were exported for sale in European stores of the chain," Ivanitsa said.

As for the overall product categories popular among Ukrainians, furniture accounted for 35% of sales, mattresses, pillows, and bedding for 21%, garden furniture for 12%, household goods for 32% based on the results of the fiscal year. The Odessa-based FontanSKY shopping center showed the best sales figures for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, Ivanitsa said.

The retailer has paid UAH 2 billion of taxes to the budget since the beginning of the crisis. Currently, there are 100 stores and the online store jysk.ua in Ukraine. JYSK employs more than 880 workers in the country.

JYSK is a part of family Lars Larsen Group with more than 3,500 stores in 48 countries.

JYSK's revenue totaled 5.6 billion euros in 2023-2024 fiscal year.