Moving House

Polish clothing company Artman, the owner of the House brand, sees Eastern Europe as the most promising region for expansion. Last week, it opened an outlet in Moscow in the prestigious Okhotny Ryad shopping mall near the Kremlin. The opening marks the beginning of the company's expansion this year, as Artman wants to increase the number of its outlets in Russia from the current 25 to 40 by the end of the year. "By the end of 2010 we want to have 100 stores in Russia," Artman's board member Grzegorz Koterwa declared.

"The development of the sales network in Eastern Europe is one of our main strategic goals," Koterwa added. He said the company also plans to increase the number of its outlets in Ukraine. Artman currently has four stores in Ukraine and in a few years the number is expected to grow to a few dozen. The company is also considering expansion in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovakia where House's owner is also present. All in all, the number of outlets outside Poland is to increase from the current 41 to 75 by the end of this year.

Artman's revenue in 2006 reached zł.205.3 million, growing by 45 percent year-on-year and surpassing forecasts, which had predicted revenues to come in at zł.200 million. Net profits also exceeded expectations of zł.6 million. The company estimates that after final calculations, net profit for 2006 will reach between zł.6.4 and zł.6.7 million.