Max Mara moves several meters down the street from its old location, after more than a decade’s presence on Calea Victoriei. The retailer is moving into a space twice as large, i.e. 500 square meters, with a 350-meter sales area.
Max Mara will become neighbors with Ermenegildo Zegna, another brand held by Alsa Boutiques, which also brought Max Mara to the Romanian market under a franchise agreement. Alsa Boutiques is one of the leading companies in luxury fashion, with its five franchises – Max Mara, Ermenegildo Zegna, Pal Zileri, Coccinelle and Emporio Armani.
When they confirmed the closure of the store, Stefanel representatives announced that the store would be relocated, but so far they have not announced any new location. Kovacevic said a few months ago that neighbors were very important. Moreover, he chose Calea Victoriei as a destination for all stores in his current portfolio. The first was Max Mara in 1999.
Neither Kovacevic nor Stefanel representatives wished to comment on the information.
Calea Victoriei, Romania’s main shopping street, has suffered major changes in the last two years. In 2010 the street became home to big fashion names such as Gucci and Emporio Armani. But the financial crisis took its toll and in 2009 stores started to close down. First went Escada, then La Perla, Versace Jeans Couture and Hugo Boss. Last year it was the turn of Alb si Negru and Mariela Burani to close their doors. One of the main reasons was the rent prices.
Before the crisis, fashion stores paid rent of between EUR100 and EUR130 per square meter per month, and sometimes even as high as EUR150 per square meter. In the first half of this year, rents were cut in half. At an average rent of 50-60 euros per square meter, Max Mara could pay up to EUR20,000 per month.
(English version by Daniela Stoican; Editing by Radu Bostan)