Stories & Resources:
Emerging Economies – Fashion Merchandising in Armenia
On our first day we were confused by the contradictions in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Situated between Russia on one side and Turkey on the other, the country was celebrating its centenary of independence. There was a huge display of coloured fountains dancing to Elvis Presley and a range of classical and pop music. The population were all out to celebrate and promenade through the city.
Smart shops with well-known brands like Levis, Hugo Boss, Mango and Benetton stood empty. Cafes and jazz clubs on the other hand were full of people eating, drinking and having fun.
The rival supermarkets, now using the tried and tested format of smaller city stores, were busy. Then we realised – of course in an economy with a major split in terms of wealth and poor, food is the luxury – not fashion.
Having said that the training programme that we provided to business consultants was a huge success culminating with a range of final merchandising displays including a ‘living window’.
Trying to meet all the needs of participants was a challenge and items on the training agenda included; marketing communications, merchandising and store design, e.tailing, customer service, the customer journey and branding.
Fashions differ depending on the culture and the young were all dressed in hipster jeans, small tops and high heels. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit some of the more exclusive restaurants where we might have seen some designer fashion brands. Nougat had just opened a stand alone store positioned in the luxury sector. Prices were high and the ratio of staff to customers was very high. We could see that it was a new economy and a lot of investment was taking place so it could be a good opportunity for fashion brand investments.
We look forward to being invited to Russia soon.
Susan Bishop and Alex Thompson
Please come and join us. 