Grupo Cortefiel to expand chain in Russia to 200 stores
MOSCOW. Oct 4 (Interfax) - Spanish fashion retailer Grupo Cortefiel wants to expand its chain in Russia to 200 stores by 2016, the group's CEO, Juan Carlos Escribano Garcia-Bosque, said at a presentation in Moscow.
Grupo Cortefiel manages the clothing stores Cortefiel, Pedro del Hierro, Springfield and women'secret. The two latter brands are represented on the Russian market.
The company began in March to manage Russian stores independently and invest in market development, the CEO said.
Earlier Springfield and women'secret operated in Russia through the franchise system. Grupo Cortefiel's partner was Melon Fashion Group (befree, Zarina, Love Republic), which signed master-franchising agreement with the Spanish retailer in 2010. Melon Fashion Group announced in March that it had sold 79 stores in Russia (36 Springfield, 43 - women'secret) to Grupo Cortefiel, because Cortefiel wanted to work in Russia independently as "growth on the Russian fashion retail market is higher compared to European markets.
In the next two years the Spanish company plans to bring the Cortefiel and Pedro del Hierro brands to the Russian market. Grupo Cortefiel will continue to develop in European Russia and plans to move into Eastern regions.
With a population of 143 million, Russia is a great market for expansion, said the Spanish Ambassador to Russia Jose Ignacio Carbajal Garate. The group's sales on the Russian market reached 150 million euros last year. Sales in the first half of 2013 totaled 127 million euros.
The Cortefiel CEO said Russia is the number two among its foreign markets for sales volume and volumes will grow.
Grupo Cortefiel was established in 1880 in Madrid and it began expanding abroad in 2000. The company currently has a presence in 70 countries with a chain of over 2,000 stores.
InfoLine analytical company says the clothing, footwear and accessories market in Russia expanded 5.4% in 2012 to $53 billion. The fashion retail market in 2013 is forecast to grow over 8% to $57.3 billion.
The biggest player on Russia's fashion retail market in 2012 was the Sportsmaster chain with revenue of 52 billion rubles, InfoLine said. Second was TsentrObuv with revenue of 37.5 billion rubles. The number three was Spanish group Inditex (Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear) with sales of 35.1 billion rubles.
