An umbrella organization representing developers, shopping center owners and retail chain operators, the Russian Council of Shopping Centers (RCSC), is negotiating with its representatives in Turkey, China, India, and Iran to find alternatives to western brands. This will help supplement or completely replace goods of the defunct brands with ones of a similar quality and design, the council said.

Dozens of big brands have suspended operations in Russia or exited the country since Moscow started a “special operation” to invade Ukrainian territories on Feb. 24. Held recently, an RCSC meeting of more than 100 market participants discussed the challenges facing Russian retailers.

Igor Maltinsky, Director-Development, Melon Fashion Group, said, the main challenge facing domestic retail firms is the increase in procurement and logistic costs which is leading to an uncontrollable growth in production costs. Melon owns four fashion brands - Zarina, Befree, Love Republic, and Sela - and had 846 stores across Russia and former Soviet republics at the end of 2021. It had been planning to hold an initial public offering (IPO) this year.