Alexandra Mertsalova about the secrets of closed shop windows
“Either they are going to sacrifice someone, or they are calling on the spirit of the Swedish store to return to Russia,” the Baza Telegram channel described a video with a group dance of IKEA employees in a closed store in Moscow. The retailer's press service promptly reported that one of the meetings of the company's employees, which began with a warm-up, got on the record. But the Russians are unavoidable optimists: news feeds have already received reports of possible preparations for the opening of the chain's stores.
McDonald's has recently found itself in a similar situation. In mid-April, news appeared about the launch of closed restaurants of the chain as volunteer centers. The company also released a thematic TV commercial: a girl enters a dark restaurant and turns on the light in it. “So, you see, and everything will work, quietly and quietly, and it will work,” Boris Agatov, co-founder of New Retail, commented on the news in his channel. Full-scale opening of institutions, of course, did not happen.
Managers of shopping malls make forecasts about the imminent resumption of the work of brands, peeping at the activity behind closed windows: employees of some chains move around the hall, even managed to hang up their summer collection.
The desire to see good signs in the unexpected actions of international companies that have suspended their work in Russia is quite understandable: citizens miss them greatly. According to a survey by Otkritie Bank, for 27% of the Russians surveyed, the exit from the IKEA market is critical, and for 13% - McDonald`s.
But drawing far-reaching conclusions is clearly not worth it. Decisions to replace the collection in the hall or hold corporate events are made by Russian top managers of international chains. According to the Ministry of Economy, 250,000 Russians are currently idle or part-time. The desire to load at least some work on the staff that is still in the state is a common management decision.
And even if local leaders would like to open the doors of the store, their desires do not always coincide with the plans of foreign head offices. For the latter, Russia may be a large market, but reputational risks are more important in most cases. The story of the internal conflict in OBI has already become widely known. And the latest example is the French cosmetics brand L'Occitane. On April 14, a company representative told the BBC about the decision to keep stores in Russia. The news did not go unnoticed: the hashtag #BoycottLOccitane spread on Twitter. The reaction was not long in coming: already on April 16, the company announced the closure of stores in the country. If any of the international brands even thought about a full-fledged resumption of business in Russia, the experience of L'Occitane showed that it is not the time yet. Russian management, of course, can go against the head office. But no further than stocks in warehouses.
Александра Мерцалова о тайнах закрытых витрин
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At least he's out of it now. 
