Many Nike stores remain open in Russia more than a week after closure announcement

A customer is reflected in a shop window decorated with the logo of the Nike store in the Belaya Dacha outlet village outside Moscow, Russia April 23, 2016. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) – Many Nike stores across Russia were open on Friday afternoon, according to checks by Reuters, more than a week after the world’s biggest sports retailer said it would temporarily closed all of its stores in the country.

Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike said the stores that were open are owned and operated by independent partners, and it will soon update its online store locator to reflect the closed owned and operated stores. by Nike.

At one of six Moscow stores contacted by phone by Reuters, an employee said: “We don’t have any information yet, but I think the store will be open for at least a month.”

Nike announced on March 3 that it would suspend operations at all of its stores in Russia, joining several Western brands that did so following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Nike has around 100 stores in the Russian Federation, according to the store directory on its website, which showed that all were “open”. Read more

A Nike employee at the retailer’s headquarters in Russia told Reuters that many of its stores remained open. The employee, however, said Nike Factory Stores have been temporarily closed.

Days before its temporary store closure announcement, Nike made merchandise purchases on its website and app unavailable in Russia and instead directed customers in the country to physical stores. The company is offering continuity pay for its employees in closed stores. Read more

Reporting by Richa Naidu in London; Additional reporting by Arriana McLymore in New York; Editing by Vanessa O’Connell, Nick Zieminski and Will Dunham

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