After McDonald’s and Starbucks, now the largest sportswear brand in the United States (US), Nike, has confirmed its withdrawal from the Russian market.
This was confirmed by the Russian newspaper Vedomosti which stated that Nike refused to renew the agreement with its largest franchisee in Russia, Inventive Retail Group (IRG).
According to IRG’s Director of Public Relations (PR) Ludmila Semushkina, they could not support the operation of the Nike store which acted to stop shipments subsequently decided to close it.
On March 3, Nike temporarily suspended their operations in Russia in response to protests against terrorism against Ukraine and the stores opened were only run by independent partners.
Among the partners is IRG which operates 37 Nike -branded stores in Russia through its subsidiary, Up And Run.
Moreover the President of the IRG, Tikhon Smykov, informed that the franchise agreement between the companies built since 2012 was not renewed, thus indirectly ending their 10 -year business network.
So far, Nike has not commented further.
Meanwhile, news of Nike's withdrawal from the Russian market invited mixed reactions.
A Moscow resident predicted there would be a sale of ‘bundle’ Nike items to be brought into Russia like what happened during the Soviet era.
While another described that there will be a shortage problem because there is no replacement for imports of Nike products in Russia like in the 80s.
And there are also those who say Nike's resignation is not a problem because there are other brands.
Even so, among those badly affected by Nike's resignation is the Spartak Moscow football team which is the team's shirt sponsor.
