Twenty-five new brands came to the Czech market last year

• With 25 brands, the Czech Republic is again the prime destination for international retail brands coming to the CEE¹, followed by Poland with half as many newcomers
• Out of the newcomer brands in the Czech Republic, 14 are in the premium segment and two in the luxury segment
• One-third of brands came from the US, and one-fourth from Italy
• In turn, five Czech brands expanded to Slovakia
• The fashion and restaurant segments saw the greatest number of arrivals and departures
• 2021 could set the biggest record in terms of the number of newly coming brands

Although the retail segment is among those affected the most by the coronavirus crisis, this does not show in the number of brands newly incoming to the Czech market. Whereas 24 new brands came to the country in 2019, in the crisis year 2020 there were 25. This year, the number of newcomer brands could be even higher – some brands postponed opening their shops to 2021 due to the corona crisis.
The global coronavirus crisis has obviously hit the entire world, affecting the high street and major premium shopping centres the most. Still, Prague and the Czech Republic have always been and will remain the most important market for new brands coming to the region.

Jan Kotrbáček, Partner & Head of CEE Retail Agency team, Cushman & Wakefield: “Prague, where most newly incoming brands are headed, has historically been a preferred tourist destination for a long time – so we expect this major part of the local purchasing power to return once this is possible again. The customer potential is also strong among the local citizens: their purchasing power is growing and they tend to buy more expensive products. The Czech retail market is approaching maturity, which is why more than one half of the newly incoming brands are in the premium and luxury segments. In fact, the retailers note that even though Pařížská Street has lost customers from China and Russia, Czech customers make up for that in part, as they are more affluent than they used to be.”

Fashion and F&B rule

As has become a tradition, the most brands that came to the Czech Republic last year were in the fashion industry, which also saw the greatest changes in terms of arrivals and departures. Eight fashion retailers came to the country, plus two sports clothes retailers, three accessories brands and one premium shoe brand. Five new brands are from the food and beverage services, and the range of leisure concepts has grown with a family fun park from Russia opening the largest scheme of this type in a shopping centre in the Czech Republic.
The most important newly incoming brands include GAP (USA), which opened several stores through its local partner in our country towards the end of the year. In the F&B segment, the Grom craft ice cream concept as part of Unilever, is a major arrival with a newly opened shop in the upper part of Wenceslas Square. One noteworthy arrival in the specialised segments is a Cybex shop (in Široká Street connected to Pařížská), which has become the flagship store for Europe offering children’s goods and accessories. For luxury brands, Saint Laurent from Kering Group deserves a mention. The value segment, which is thriving during the crisis, has grown with the TEDi and Action brands.

American brands come to the Czech Republic while Czech brands head for Slovakia

The most frequent country of origin of the brands newly incoming to the Czech Republic was the USA (eight brands), followed by Italy (six brands). Czech brands expanded as well, primarily to Slovakia: examples include the Jena Nábytek furniture retailer, Bonami home accessories brand and the Saunia leisure concept. Another Czech brand, Sportisimo, expanded into a shopping centre in Sofia, Bulgaria.

To shopping centres and high street

The ratio of the main retail concepts where the newly coming brands were headed was balanced in the Czech Republic last year: 10 chose high streets in Prague’s centre, 10 came to shopping centres – mostly in Prague and one each in Brno, Hradec Králové and Kladno. Four out of the five remaining brands came to outlet stores and one went to a retail park.

Jan Kotrbáček, Partner & Head of CEE Retail Agency team, Cushman & Wakefield: “It is good to see that the traditional segments of the Czech retail market are doing well and that the newly incoming brands trust them. It is obvious that companies and brands are trying to diversify their stores and sales channels across various regions. Everybody is closely watching the rapid changes, amplified by the corona crisis, in the behaviour of customers who are sourcing some of their shopping in the online environment. This is why most brands operate brick-and-mortar shops concurrently with e-shops, complementing each other. Brick-and-mortar shops are definitely not closing en masse, as illustrated by our positive footfall and revenue figures from shopping centres for the periods when they were open last year. In Prague’s high street, we see new tenant activity despite closures and a downturn in the number of international customers – for example, Geox and Vasky brand stores opened in Na Příkopě not long ago. It is apparent that companies and brands will still need good quality and attractive physical stores in attractive locations for their presentation, placing emphasis on product presentation and customer service quality. One thing is clear: the retail world is being revolutionised and retailers will be forced to make changes to the way they sell goods and provide customer service. Those who can adapt will succeed and tap the opportunities presented by attractive space vacated by those who do not tackle the current crisis or cannot adapt to the changing market. We expect attractive space to become available, creating opportunities for new concepts and brands.”

14 brands exited the market

Fourteen brands left the Czech market last year. Most of them were in the fashion segment, including clothes retailers Camaieu, Next and Promod and accessories brands such as Frey Wille and Tous; in addition, three café chains left our country too.

Jan Kotrbáček, Partner & Head of CEE Retail Agency team, Cushman & Wakefield: “The number of brands that left the Czech market last year is not immediately connected with the corona crisis impact. The number is somewhat higher than usual, but in many cases, this is part of companies’ long-term strategy, or they are leaving markets that do not work for them.”

A record-breaking year 2021?

The complicated situation in 2020 changed and/or delayed certain brands’ plans for opening their shops in the Czech Republic – many have rescheduled it for 2021. El Gaucho has publicly declared its plan to return to the Czech Republic this year; new arrivals will also include Primark in Wenceslas Square, a Cinemax multiplex cinema in Olomouc, and Chanel in Pařížská. Of course, the situation is uncertain and will depend on the future development of the coronavirus crisis and the related measures, which significantly affect the retail market and the physical opening of shops. If the developments are favourable, this year could be very important and in fact record-breaking in terms of new brand arrivals on the Czech market – even though there are no plans for opening any top-class shopping centres, which the arrival of multiple newcomers to the market is usually connected with.

Jan Kotrbáček, Partner & Head of CEE Retail Agency team, Cushman & Wakefield: “It is true that the situation on the retail market complicates brands’ expansion plans – some tend to wait, others are more careful in selecting the most suitable market and the best location. This makes them even more appreciative of the assistance from a reliable local partner possessing a good knowledge of the local market. In this respect, we have been recently approached by Primark, Cybex, Superland, Gap and Grom, whom we helped selecting the best locations for their first shop on the Czech market; in the past, such brands included many others such as Foot Locker, Hard Rock Café, Jimmy Choo, Claire’s, Sports Direct and Flying Tiger Copenhagen.”

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¹ For the purpose of this comparison, the CEE region includes the V4 countries – the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary