Published
Aug 29, 2017
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UK’s Mamas & Papas quits Russian market

Published
Aug 29, 2017

UK mother, baby and toddler-focused retailer Mamas & Papas is exiting the Russian market five years after it first launched there, according to reports.


Mamas & Papas



Yevgeny Butman, chairman of the retailer’s Russian license holder Ideas4Retail confirmed the news and said the brand’s last store, in Moscow, will close at the end of this week.

It’s a far cry from the brand’s launch in Russia which came at a time when UK retailers were more upbeat about international growth and Mamas & Papas talked ambitiously of opening 25 stores in the country.

Butman said that the company he leads wants to focus on the areas in which it is strongest and that means toys, It currently operate two toy banners for Hamleys and Imaginarium in the Russian market.

Mamas & Papas was founded in 1981 and was acquired by the owner of department store Liberty, BlueGem Capital, in 2014. They brought in retail veteran Derek Lovelock as executive chairman to spearhead a turnaround but he left the firm earlier this summer. CEO Jonathon Fitzgerald, who had only been in the post for around six months, left shortly after.

BlueGem said at the time that the two executives decided to leave after successfully completing the firm’s turnaround. In its latest full-year results it said that operating profit nearly quadrupled to £5.5 million as comparable sales rose 20%.

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