Polish dressing
Several Polish textile companies have been doing business in Eastern Europe for many years, and their brands there are widely recognized. Now, they want to capitalize on greater demand for their products, and are setting up their own stores and outlets in these dynamic market.
KAN, which owns the Tatuum brand, has just signed contracts to establish eight stores in Russia this year, and one in Ukraine. The biggest stores of 500 sqm will be hosted by the Mega Ikea shopping malls. Próchnik is opening ten boutiques, first in Lviv, Kiev and Odessa in Ukraine, and then Moscow, Krasnoiarsk and St. Petersburg. Wólczanka, which specializes in men's shirts, already delivers products to three multi-brand boutiques in Lithuania and Estonia. "We have serious plans connected with Moscow," reveals Rafał Bauer, President of Board at Wólczanka.
Gdańsk-based clothing designer and retailer LPP, which is the owner of the Reserved and Cropp brands, has announced plans to open 40 new outlets outside Poland this year. Half of these are to be launched in Russia. LPP's domestic network is to grow by an additional 20 stores. The company's president and one of its founders, Marek Piechocki, said that there are plans to launch a new clothing brand by the end of this year.
"The companies are looking for new markets because their production is bigger than the demand in Poland. The east is a huge market and the firms see a chance there. Now customers in the Baltic countries, Russia and Ukraine have more money and they expect a complete service. Such boutiques will provide that," says Hanna Zdanowska, Director of the Łódź Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
That these companies have been delivering their brands to eastern markets for some time now provides several advantages when it comes to establishing outlets. "The fact that we have organizational opportunities there lowers the costs and the risk when entering a new market," says Mikołaj Habit, vice-president of Próchnik SA.
Polish companies seem to feel comfortable in the east. KAN has already found out that the customers like small size, shiny and colorful clothes. They also cooperate closely with the region's popular lifestyle magazines, which borrow collections for photo sessions.
"We are trying to be present in the press. And we've got one of our boutiques in Okhotny Ryad, close to Red Square, in the most exclusive shopping mall in Moscow," boasts Jacek Uliński, Financial Director at KAN.
The east, however, is not the only direction Polish textile producers are heading. KAN, for example, is adding another store to it's German venture, in Leipzig. Hexeline is already operating in Sweden, Germany and will soon go to Great Britain.
After the closing of many textile companies in Poland in the 1990s, Zdanowska, from the Łódź Chamber of Industry and Commerce, says she sees a bright future for the industry. "The industry did not disappear, and is now improving," she says.
