LPP debuts in North Macedonia. The Polish clothing manufacturer’s stores are already available on 26 markets.
On 23 September the Gdańsk-based company opened its first Reserved store in Skopje, making its debut on the Macedonian market. In a few weeks’ time the stores of its other brands will be launched, therefore expanding the LPP sales network in the Balkans by 8 thousand sq m. North Macedonia is the seventh country in South-Eastern Europe where the Polish clothing manufacturer operates stationary sales. The SEE region is a market with great development potential for the brands owned by LPP and one of the company’s three key sales regions.
The debut of LPP brands in North Macedonia, originally announced for 2020, was eventually postponed to the third quarter of 2021 due to difficulties caused by the pandemic. This is another step by LPP towards strengthening the standing of Polish brands on the map of South-Eastern Europe. Entering the Macedonian market, the company focused on the largest and best-located shopping centres in the capital of Northern Macedonia – Skopje City Mall and Skopje East Gate.
On 23 September the first Reserved flagship store was opened, with an area of over 1,900 sq m. It is the only store of the Polish manufacturer located in Skopje City Mall, situated 3 km from the very centre of the city. The complex comprises offers of 150 shopping and service points, creating a convenient atmosphere for combining shopping, entertainment and social meetings.
In a few weeks, the company will launch another five stores of its brands, including the second Reserved store, in the newly built Skopje East Gate shopping centre. The facility, which is the biggest private investment in North Macedonia, will be one of the largest shopping centres in the area. The 500,000 sq m area will include residential, office, retail and entertainment space. Of the 220 brands available at Skopje East Gate, up to 40% will debut in North Macedonia with the opening of the centre, offering customers a new shopping experience.
– Entering the Macedonian market is the next stage of LPP’s development in South-Eastern Europe, which we treat as a market that offers our brands growth potential. We are glad that after a year of wait time caused by the pandemic, which forced us to postpone our development plans in North Macedonia, the moment has come for the debut. Expanding the portfolio of our sales network to include the Macedonian market was a natural step in our strategy to gradually strengthen the position of LPP brands in the Balkans. – comments Przemysław Lutkiewicz – Vice-President of the Management Board, LPP.
LPP brand stores in Skopje have been prepared according to the latest architectural concept. Their total retail space will amount to over 8,000 sq m.
The expansion of LPP in the Balkans started 14 years ago with the launch of the first Reserved store in Romania. Since then, the Polish clothing manufacturer decided to launch stationary sales also in Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today, after entering the Macedonian market, the company’s stores in this region amount to nearly 180 stores with a total area of over 158,000 sq m. LPP additionally conducts online sales in the region, including on the Romanian, Croatian and Slovenian markets, and for several weeks now also in Bulgaria.
– Despite the continued double-digit growth of online sales, we still maintain our plans for the expansion of our traditional network, which we plan to increase by 25% this year. In our opinion, this is a good direction of development that will allow us to strengthen our multi-channel sales strategy. We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible shopping experience, regardless of whether they choose to purchase our collections in traditional stores or online – adds Przemysław Lutkiewicz – Vice-President of the Management Board, LPP.
According to the plans adopted by LPP for this year, the company intends to allocate PLN 950 million for the expansion of its stationary network, including, to the greatest extent, the development of stores in Europe and the CIS region.
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LPP is a Polish family business and one of the fastest growing clothing companies in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. For 30 years it has been successfully operating in Poland and abroad, offering its collection in traditional stores already on 26 markets, including in such prestigious capitals as London, Berlin, Tel Aviv or Moscow. LPP SA manages five fashion brands: Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito, and Sinsay. As at the end of 2020, the company had a chain of over 1800 stores with the total area of 1.4 million sq.m. The online offer of the brands collections is available on 31 markets. On the basis of a global supply chain, the Polish clothing producer distributes over 259 million pieces of clothing to three continents. LPP plays another important role as it employs nearly 22 thousand people in its offices and sales structures in Poland, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The company is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the WIG20 index and belongs to the prestigious MSCI Poland index.