JRL NEWSWATCH: “Moscow’s Watcom shopping index almost back to normal as shoppers return to Moscow’s malls” – bne Intellinews

File Photo of Cash Register with Drawer Open and Hands of Cashier

“Moscow’s Watcom shopping index has regained almost all the ground lost from a lockdown on the capital earlier this year” “[The] Watcom shopping index [tracking foot traffic at Moscow’s leading malls] has recovered almost all … ground lost during the [spring] lockdown …. [Moscow’s] infection rate … has fallen …. [T]he epidemic is far from over in Russia …. A […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Coronavirus Revolutionizes Russia’s Retail Scene; Retailers have been forced to digitize, move online and transform their businesses in the space of weeks” – Moscow Times

File Image of Laptop Computer, Tables and Mobile Device, adapted from image at energy.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Adrien Henni – April 9, 2020) Russian retail players have been rocked by the coronavirus pandemic, with the country on a month-long partial shutdown and major cities under strict quarantine, shopping habits have been transformed in a matter of days, forcing both online and offline sellers to react quickly. Even before the shutdown of many […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Russian retail slump clouds forecasts for economic recovery” – Reuters

File Photo of Older Russian Woman Shopping in Grocery Store

Russian retail sales fell more than expected in December, official data showed on Wednesday, challenging the government’s optimistic predictions for an imminent economic recovery. Retail sales are the largest contributor to Russian gross domestic product and have suffered steep falls since the economy entered a deep slump in 2014, when oil prices collapsed and the West imposed sanctions over the […]

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NEWSLINK bne Intellinews: “Russia’s Watcom shopping index back at 2015 levels as consumption recovers”

File Photo of Older Russian Woman Shopping in Grocery Store

“… The Russian shopping footfall index accelerated once again in the 44th week of the year as consumer confidence gathers momentum and the hoi polloi go shopping thanks to a slew of improving (but still far from ideal) macroeconomic indicators, according to the Watcom Shopping index. …”

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Russia’s Consumers Still in Shock as They Cut Back on Food and Medicine

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas – July 19, 2016) With stores from near the Arctic to the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, Magnit PJSC would be the first to know when the Russian consumer is back. Instead, the nation’s largest supermarket chain has just come across something it’s never seen. Billionaire Sergey Galitskiy’s retailer, which operates almost 13,000 outlets […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Russian shopping mall activity continues 2016 recovery” – Intellinews.com

File Photo of Cash Register with Drawer Open and Hands of Cashier

Following a shaky start to the year – three of the first four weeks in 2016 saw annual decreases in footfall – activity in Russian shopping malls appears to have turned the corner, with the positive data of February continuing into March …. Click here for Intellinews.com: Russian shopping mall activity continues 2016 recovery [featured image is file photo, not […]

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NEWSLINK RBTH/Kommersant: “Russian retail figures retreat to 1970 levels as crisis deepens. The Ministry of Economy has published figures revealing the Russian retail sector’s worst performance in over 40 years as inflation remains high. The report also shows a rise in the number of people in the country living below the poverty line”

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Russia Sees Biggest Decline in Wages, Retail Sales Since 1999

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anna Andrianova – November 19, 2015) Russian wages and retail sales declined by the most since 1999, a sign consumer demand will remain a weak link in the economy’s efforts to break out of its first recession in six years. Real wages fell 10.9 percent in October from a year earlier, a deeper contraction than the […]

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Moscow Times: More Foreign Retailers Coming to Russia Despite Economic Crisis

File Photo of Cash Register with Drawer Open and Hands of Cashier

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – September 25, 2015) A dramatic decline in consumer spending in recession-hit Russia has not scared foreign retailers away from starting new business in the country, research published on Thursday found. In the three months from July to September, 14 new foreign retailers have set up shop in Russia – two more than […]

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After the Boom: Moscow Malls Struggle With Fewer Customers

File Photo of Cash Register with Drawer Open and Hands of Cashier

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 22, 2015) Twenty-eight percent fewer customers are walking through the doors of the average Moscow shopping center than two years ago, according to data from market researchers Watcom cited by the Kommersant newspaper. The slump in visitor numbers comes after years of expanding consumer spending in Russia as an oil boom fueled an emerging […]

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Foot traffic at Russia’s leading shopping malls tumbles

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – September 15, 2015) [Charts here bne.eu/content/story/foot-traffic-russias-leading-shopping-malls-tumbles] Foot traffic at Russia’s leading malls is collapsing because of the grinding crisis that has seen real incomes fall the first time in a decade and a half, according to the most accurate index measuring Russians’ shopping habits. Moscow boasts some of the […]

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Russia’s Book Industry Wanes as Russians Stop Reading

Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

  (Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – July 30, 2015) More Russian bookshops are facing closure every year, shaking the publishing industry and threatening writing as a profession. Bookselling, never the most profitable retail business, is struggling to stay afloat thanks to expensive shop rental rates and decreasing interest from customers. In Moscow, considered the most well-read city […]

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How to Become a Russian Billionaire With No Help from the Kremlin

Krasnodar and Road

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Khrennikov – November 20, 2014) It’s a hot day in Krasnodar, deep in southern Russia. The action is hot on the soccer field, too. Ari, the local club’s Brazilian striker, takes a pass from the left flank and scores a beautiful goal. Ari (full name Ariclenes da Silva Ferreira) then wheels away in celebration to […]

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Consumers Stay Away From Moscow’s Malls as Sanctions Deepen Russia’s Slump

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 9, 2014) Nearly 25 percent fewer people visited Moscow’s malls in the week leading up the start of the school year than in the same period of 2013, a survey said, indicating that Western sanctions and an economic slowdown are hitting Russian consumer demand. A report by consumer market research firm Watcom cited by […]

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Russian retail lending may be hitting a growth ceiling

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Natalia Orlova, special to RBTH  – February 5, 2014) While developed economies face the need to deleverage, emerging markets still have the opportunity to grow by taking on more debt. Natalia Orlova is the Chief Economist at Alfa Bank in Moscow. While developed economies face the need to deleverage, emerging markets still have […]

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Russia Surpasses Europe in Shopping Mall Construction

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – November 11, 2013) Russia is ranked number one in Europe in terms of building retail space but still has a lower ratio of shopping malls to people, according to research by Cushman & Wakefield. With over 456,200 square meters of retail space built in just the first half of 2013, Russia topped […]

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Ikea Growing Humility in Russia One Employee at a Time

File Photo of Ikea Store with Russian Language Facade and Shopping Carts

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Lena Smirnova – June 21, 2013) With the coveted title of Russia’s biggest shopping mall operator, Ikea Shopping Centres leads in a market that is expected to become Europe’s second largest in the next 18 months. It recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and is making big plans for the future. The milestone closes a decade […]

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Russian Food-Store Tsar Rings Up Billions as Wal-Mart Wavers

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

Ilya Khrennikov – Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – September 7, 2012 One by one, from the southeastern corner of the continent, Sergey Galitskiy is beating the biggest supermarket chains in Europe. In February, the Russian retailer he founded near the Black Sea, OAO Magnit (MGNT), surged past Metro AG (MEO) of Germany in market value, then overtook Royal Ahold NV of […]

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