You're reading: Some UK clothing shops stay despite hard times

It’s been a Brexit of another kind.Several British clothes retailers have quietly left the Ukrainian market since the EuroMaidan Revolution that drove President Viktor Yanukovych from power in 2014, and there’s not much sign that they’ll return any time soon.

Until civil unrest, economic crisis and Russia’s war hit Ukraine, a number of major multinational clothing retailers with British origins had stores (often operating under franchise) in Kyiv and other big Ukrainian cities.

But Lee Cooper, a British clothing company famous for its denim outfits, and New Look, a global fashion retailer with a chain of high street shops, left Ukraine in 2014 because of political instability. Anders Kristiansen, chief executive of the New Look retail group, told the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph in 2014 that it “wasn’t right time for a company to invest in a market that wasn’t politically stable.”

And clothing, footwear and home products retailer Next, which has more than 200 franchise stores in over 40 countries globally, closed its Ukrainian shops in 2014. In their place, the company launched international sales to Ukraine via the Internet.

Yet despite the trials and turmoil of the Ukrainian market in the last two years, several British brands say they intend to stay put.

Fashion capital

London’s reputation as one of the most influential fashion capitals previously helped the UK brands’ stores in Ukraine attract buyers. But the hryvnia devaluation and unstable political situation have already forced about eight large international brands to leave the Ukrainian market.

“British brands attract buyers primarily because of their style,” says Ukrainian designer Elena Przhonskaya, who runs her own fashion brand. She says that she often gets inspiration from the British fashion, because of its “atmosphere of freedom, protest and eternal experimentation, which is romantic and daring at the same time.”

Meanwhile, fashion lover Veronika Makhynia, a project manager at Pinchuk Art Center, says that she prefers British clothing brands because “many of them offer high-quality basic outfits made of good fabric and with firm, neat stitching.”

The steep hryvnia devaluation hasn’t helped her, of course – the price of foreign clothing brands has risen sharply because of Ukraine’s sagging currency. At the same time, the purchasing power of the average Ukrainian has dropped to only €979 or Hr 27,394 a year, according to market research firm GFK. That’s the lowest index among the 28 countries of the European Union, along with Russia, Norway, Switzerland and Tukey, GFK says, and it’s one of the reasons why some British brands decided to exit Ukraine.

Older, more demanding


The women holds a clothes by British brand Mark and Spencer in Ocean Plaza shopping mall in Kyiv on May 26. The brand didn’t quit Ukraine despite crisis and political instability. (Anastasia Vlasova)

One of those that is planning to stay on in Ukraine is Marks & Spencer, the biggest chain of British-branded shops in the country. The brand has 10 stores in Ukraine – one each in Lviv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Odesa, and six stores in Kyiv. Founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer, the brand has 852 stores throughout the UK and more than 200 shops across Europe, Asia and Africa. The first shop in Ukraine opened in 2007. The brand offers classic elegant outfits at prices from between Hr 1,500 and Hr 4,000 ($60-160).

According to Marks & Spenser’s latest annual report, the brand’s international sales fell by 2.1 percent in 2015 because of a decrease in wholesale shipments to franchise partners in Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, resulting in lower profits.

Another multinational British fashion retailer Topshop, which sells clothes, shoes, cosmetics and accessories in 500 shops worldwide, also says the economic crisis and war in Ukraine have hit its sales. But Vita Voinilovich, the director of BNS Trade, the company that owns the Topshop and Topman stores in Ukraine, says that the consumers “are still seeking the unique, fashionable clothes offered by the brand.” However, she also says that the crisis has pushed Topshop to change its target audience – to older and more demanding customers.

“The clients of Topshop are 20- to 30-year-olds with a higher education who buy new outfits once or twice a month. The majority are women, although 40 percent of them are men,” Voinilovich says.

Topshop in Ukraine has switched to stocking higher quality outfits from limited collections, rather than mass-produced clothes. All of their outfits are delivered directly from the UK.

Good prospects

The other British brands that are staying in the Ukrainian market are also aiming for the mid- to high-end. They include Oasis, which has three stores in major shopping malls in Kyiv and Kharkiv, and Warehouse, a womenswear brand that offers youthful, casual clothing, party gear and accessories, which has one shop in Kyiv. Ukraine also has several outlets of Karen Millen, a British women’s clothing retailer that specializes in fitted clothes, coats and eveningwear, where prices start from around Hr 5,000 ($200).

And when it comes to the luxury segment, Ukraine’s financial instability hasn’t had much of an impact on British clothes retailers.

“In general, this segment has withstood the crisis quite well,” Executive Director of the Helen Marlen Group Alexey Meleschuk said in comments emailed to the Kyiv Post. “Of course, the sales have gone down, but at the same time expenses on marketing and advertisements have gone down too, which made it possible to compensate for the drop in sales.”

The Helen Marlen Group, a Ukrainian retailer of luxury fashionable clothes, offers outfits from British brands Burberry and Victoria Beckham.

“There have been some fears about the future of Burberry in Ukraine because of the conflict in the east of the country, but now the brand has ambitious global plans, and good prospects in Ukraine,” Meleschuk said.