Michael Mendoza-Blandon no longer fits into his jeans
The Russian chain Westland is getting ready to close its business. Westland, a Russian chain of jeans shops with supposed American origins, became popular in the late 1990s. Now, the company is getting ready to shut down. It has already closed its online store and most of its retail outlets. It is selling off the remaining stock. The brand has not changed its collection for many years, which could cause it to lose customers and not be able to compete.
The Russian chain of Westland jeans stores is reducing its operations, according to two sources in the retail real estate market. Workers at the Westland hotline confirmed that the stores are gradually closing after selling off their remaining stock. They are not planning to bring in new products. The Westland online store stopped taking orders in the fall of 2022. The Westland representative is unreachable because the network office email is not accepting new emails.
Westland has been around since 1994 and specializes in selling men’s and women’s jeans. It operates its own stores and franchise stores. The owner of the trademarks associated with Westland is businessman Mikhail Mendoza-Blandon, according to Rospatent. He is also listed as the head of the company on the website of the Vityaz Association, which promotes military sports and patriotic education. Additionally, the businessman is the president of the Encyclopedia of Seraphim of Sarov charitable foundation.
Marina Malakhatko, head of the CORE.XP retail department, points out that Westland presented itself as an American jeans brand in the mass market, and for about 20 years it was a popular brand with stores in many shopping centers across the country. But in recent years, the network has significantly decreased.
According to the Westland website, in 2020, there were around 55 stores under the brand in major Russian cities, but now there are only nine open outlets in Moscow, the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, and Omsk. According to one of Kommersant’s sources, Westland is now selling its own stores at a significant discount.
The closure of Westland could be one of the few examples of a Russian clothing brand shutting down while many global brands are leaving the country and there is growing interest in local brands. The American denim chain Levi’s, for example, left the Russian market, and some of its local stores have reopened under the JNS banner. Meanwhile, large Russian chains like Gloria Jeans are expanding in these conditions.
Alexey Vanchugov, managing partner of Vanchugov & Partners, observes that in recent years, Westland has not been a leading player in the jeans market. The company did not invest much in development and heavily relied on its “American” image to promote the franchise. Marina Malakhatko also notes that Westland could lose some of its customers in 30 years. To stay competitive, the network should have updated its collection, marketing, and positioning, and focused on new sales channels.
According to Alexey Vanchugov, the reduction of retail stores may be due to the accumulated large debts for many facilities. Marina Malakhatko also does not rule out that the decision to curtail Westland retail could be the result of the company’s high debt burden, as well as the possible loss of interest of business beneficiaries in the development of Westland. A Kommersant source among clothing manufacturers and sellers also notes that Westland has not been active in the fashion market for a long time.
According to Focus Technologies, in 2022 the number of customers in clothing stores in Moscow shopping centers decreased by 9% year-on-year, while turnover grew by 5% on the back of a 15% increase in the average check. According to Fashion Consulting Group, the turnover of the fashion market in Russia in 2022 decreased by about 10%, to 2.4 trillion rubles.
