Baltic, Markets and Companies, Retail, Textile

A major international business with well-known brands and a strong leadership was built.

Now, Baltika is revising its business model and has included international consultation firm Roland Berger to analyse the results if brands, markets and stores. A more detailed action plan will be completed by this summer.

“Baltika is conducting the budgetary process of the second half of the year, during which we will evaluate the sales and profit potential of brands, markets and stores. Based on that we will make the decisions to close stores,” said Baltika’s retail trade division director Maire Milder.

Baltika started making changes in it store network last year when it opened 23 and closed 24 stores and changed the location of 4 stores. It closed the Czech market altogether.

This year it has closed 8 stores in Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine and opened 4, in Latvia, Estonia and Russia. But the bigger cleaning work is still ahead.

Milder said that Baltika will review every shop separately and closing and opening them depends a lot on opening of new shopping centres. “Baltika aims to be represented in strong and attractive shopping centres where our international competitors are also present,” she said.

The restructuring of the retail chain is just a part of the rescue plan that is seen as the result of interference of Swedbank that has invested considerable sums in the bourse-listed company. The company hopes that the financial state of the firm will improve in the second quarter when a package consisting of a supplementary share issue and sale of property as well as revisal of repayment of loans would be launched.