Lazurit, a Kaliningrad-based furniture manufacturer, is preparing to open its first Moscow store at the end of October. The move was confirmed by the company’s press service and reported by RIA News. The new showroom marks Lazurit’s entry into the Russian capital’s retail scene, aligning with a broader strategy to extend its nationwide presence.
The store is slated to occupy a 7,000 square meter footprint within the Europolis shopping center, a location that previously housed IKEA before the Swedish retailer exited the Russian market. This site choice signals Lazurit’s intent to capture high-footfall traffic in a prominent, shopper-friendly district while leveraging an influential mall ecosystem to showcase its product range.
Officials describe the project as a hypermarket concept, with an investment exceeding 100 million rubles allocated to construct and outfit the space, as well as to ensure a seamless customer experience, from showroom displays to delivery and after-sales support. Lazurit’s leadership emphasizes the goal of creating a flagship experience that communicates the brand’s design philosophy and value proposition to a broad audience.
Beyond the Moscow flagship, Lazurit plans a broader rollout. The press service indicated that the company intends to inaugurate similar hypermarkets in Russia’s major urban centers, prioritizing cities with populations surpassing one million. This expansion blueprint reflects an ambition to make high-quality Russian furniture more accessible in large-capacity markets while maintaining a consistent brand presence across the country.
In related real estate developments, Ingka Centres, the entity that owns IKEA stores and Mega shopping centers, reportedly divested the Khimki Business Park, where IKEA’s Russian headquarters was located. The move underscores the ongoing reconfiguration of retail and logistics assets in Russia following store exits and market adjustments by international players.
Market observers have noted the broader implications for Russian real estate values tied to former international tenants. Alexey Novikov, managing partner at NF Group (formerly Knight Frank), estimated that the Russian real estate portfolio once occupied by IKEA could be valued at at least 100 billion rubles. The assessment spans warehouse facilities and retail spaces that IKEA retained in the country prior to its withdrawal, highlighting how asset reallocation and re-tenanting affect valuation in the current market environment.
These developments arrived amid ongoing discussions at the European Commission regarding the scope and scale of Russian sovereign assets frozen in EU jurisdictions. The context underscores the macroeconomic and regulatory backdrop shaping corporate strategies and investment flows in the region.
Overall, Lazurit’s Moscow expansion and the reshaping of former IKEA assets illustrate a trend toward reconfiguring the retail and furniture landscape in Russia. As larger cities become focal points for new formats and multi-channel approaches, furniture brands are pairing experiential showrooms with robust logistics networks to satisfy demand from a growing urban middle class. Observers will watch how Lazurit’s flagship store performs in a market poised for convergence of domestic design with international retail dynamics. At stake are brand perception, local employment, and the potential ripple effects on retail real estate in major metropolitan areas. [Source: RIA News]