MOSCOW, November 11 (RIA Novosti) — British fashion chain New Look has decided to close its stores in both Russia and Ukraine citing political uncertainty, the company's news release said Tuesday.
"Exited Russia and Ukraine given political uncertainty," the statement said.
According to the information on the company's official website, New Look has 20 stores Russia- in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg and Omsk, and 6 stores in Ukraine — in Kiev, Odesa, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk.
Initially, the retailer was planning to buy out every outlet in Russia working under a brand franchise and start a full-scale expansion into the Russian market but in August the company declared a freeze on any plans to expand in Russia.
The statement specified that the company's plans for other countries remained unchanged. In particular, the chain intends to increase the number of stores in China by the end of the year from 14 to 20, as well as to maintain development in Poland and Germany.
