LEGO leaves the Russian market
It became known that the Danish manufacturer Lego is leaving the Russian market. The other day, the contract with the official distributor in Russia, the World of Cubes company, was terminated.
In information about this, RIA Novosti refers to authorized representatives of Inventive Retail Group, which manages Nike, Street Beat, re:Store, Lego and several other retail chains in the Russian Federation. They said: “We confirm the termination of the contract with the Lego company. But our company will continue to work as an expert in the category of constructors and educational toys.”
The Lego company took the first step towards such a decision in early March, when it announced a temporary suspension of deliveries of new products to toy stores in Russia. One of the Danish publications called Finans.dk, commenting on the report on the suspension of supplies of the manufacturer of prefabricated kits, explained the incident by saying that such a step was made “in the light of the sanctions and the unpredictable situation.” And even then, the publication came to the conclusion that, thus, the concern closed the doors to one of its largest sales markets.
After that, in early June, the Russian distributor announced a “temporary” suspension of the work of some of the network’s certified stores due to lack of supplies. And now, after 5 months, Lego finally terminated the contract for the supply of products to Russia. Now the only hope left for construction fans who prefer original kits from the Danish manufacturer is a parallel import.
According to experts, in the situation that has arisen, many lovers of the “world of cubes” will simply switch to Chinese counterparts. Moreover, the companies of the Celestial Empire produce magnificent copies of the new Lego products – and almost simultaneously (!) With the Danes. Most importantly, in terms of quality characteristics, they are in no way inferior to the originals.
The most important argument in favor of reorientation to designers from China is the cost of kits. Chinese counterparts have always been 2-3 times cheaper, and now, when Lego products will rise in price by an average of 25 percent in the fall, this circumstance may affect the choice not only among Russian fans of designers, but also among Western buyers.