Another Russian clothing retailer closes 35 stores amid profit collapse

By the end of 2025, Zolla operated 457 stores, down from 492 a year earlier. The chain had been expanding in 2024, opening 24 new locations, but revenue remained nearly flat at 25.6 billion rubles ($326 million) while expenses rose sharply. Net profit plunged more than fivefold to 429.6 million rubles ($5.5 million) from 2.3 billion rubles ($29 million) the previous year.

The contraction comes as the clothing sales sector faces multiple pressures: falling consumer demand, rising rents, new taxes and growing competition from marketplaces. Industry participants say retailers realized a crisis had begun last year but underestimated its depth.

“Last year retailers understood that a crisis had started, but they did not realize its depth,” said Alexander Peremyatov, founder of Slava Concept clothing department stores. “Now the situation has worsened. Due to reduced consumption, the number of loss-making stores is increasing, and resources to support them are becoming insufficient.”

In 2025, 28 fashion brands closed in Russia, 23 of them domestic, according to Evgenia Khakberdieva of NF Group. Major chains have been scaling back: O’stin closed 62 stores, Gloria Jeans plans to close 150, Finn Flare is keeping only stores in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and Concept Group liquidated half its network. Among the foreign brands, the stores that closed include the Turkish brands Les Benjamins and Karaca Home, as well as the Kazakh brand Gaissina. The total area of clothing stores in shopping centers shrank by 15% over the year.

“The situation is critical for smaller players and painful—though not catastrophic—for large chains,” notes Maria Gerasimenko, founder of Fashion Advisers. According to her, the market is shifting from a growth model to a survival model.

According to the Platform OFD, purchases of clothing, footwear and accessories fell 11% last year, while foot traffic in shopping center clothing stores dropped 6%. 80% of Russia’s roughly 1,000 shopping centers saw turnover decline.

Russia’s oil and gas revenues in 2025 plummeted to their lowest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Russia’s budget could face a significant deficit as early as the beginning of 2026 due to shortfalls in oil and gas revenues, according to officials in the Russian government.

Ukrainian intelligence reported that the financial condition of medium and large enterprises in Russia continued to deteriorate, demonstrating growing imbalances in the corporate sector.

More than half of large companies in Russia ended 2025 with a drop in profits, cut back or completely froze investment projects, and many of them are preparing to lay off employees.

On Feb. 24, 2026, it was reported that Russia is preparing for the closure of about 300 companies.

For the first time in history, 74 Russian regions simultaneously found themselves in a financial hole.

A wave of mass business closures began in Russia.

The Russian Ministry of Finance acknowledged that the hole in the aggressor’s treasury is growing at a record pace.

Russia’s State Statistics Service acknowledged that more than 17,000 Russian enterprises simultaneously reported losses.

VkusVille was the first of Russia’s major grocery retailers to begin winding down its retail network: by the end of 2025, the company had closed 286 stores.

Magnit—Russia’s largest retail chain by number of stores—ended 2025 with a net loss.

As many as 22 Russian industries had fallen into deep red as of April 2026.