Putin’s invasion of Ukraine caused many companies to withdraw from Russia. H&M suspended operations on March 3. The company recently announced that it would open stores on August 1 to sell off the goods from the warehouses.
As reported in an interview with Onet Podróże Polka with Russian citizenship, not all stores were reopened at the beginning of August. – Some of them have only resumed operations, others are still closed – he explains.
The Polish woman went to the Raikin Plaza shopping center in the north of Moscow, where there were many customers from the very morning. – I was there on Tuesday at 10.30, when there are usually only sellers in shopping centers – he reports.
He says that you can see all the goods on hangers: sweatshirts, pants, jackets, dresses. – The prices are normal, there are no discounts. The sweatshirt costs 2,299 rubles (about PLN 172), pants cost 1,699 rubles (about PLN 127), the jacket costs 2,499 rubles (about PLN 187) – he says.
– Real crowds come to this store in the evenings. People buy different things. I learned from casual conversations that many people will miss these clothes because they are cheap and stylish – he says.
On another day, a woman went to the Rio shopping center in Moscow, where she waited in line for half an hour to enter the store. She pointed out that although many people previously treated H&M as a children’s store, now everyone is willing to buy clothes for themselves as well.
– Despite the fairly high prices, people are eager to buy H&M goods, because Russian clothing companies either make cheap clothes of terrible quality, or decent but expensive. After leaving H&M, I checked into the Gloria Jeans store. It is a Russian clothing brand, the prices are the same as in the aforementioned chain store, but the quality is much worse. The store was empty – he says and adds:
– I didn’t buy anything. When there’s a war, I don’t feel like thinking about new clothes. The Russians do not care about the events in Ukraine, but rather … the sales.
Karolina Walczowska, journalist of Onet Podróże
Date Created: Today, 12:43