Minus in the square: FunDay retailer has closed about 50 stores
Another major clothing retailer is facing a reduction in the number of offline stores. FunDay, part of the Sportmaster group, closed about 50 outlets in 2025, Izvestia learned. Against the background of rising rental rates and lower traffic in the shopping center, the company is reviewing its development strategy. At the same time, difficulties are observed for all three brands of the group, which also includes the sports store chain of the same name and O'STIN. The latter closed 62 points in 2025. FunDay has the most difficult situation — the brand's target audience has shifted to marketplaces amid the active growth of online commerce, experts say. Izvestia investigated how changes in consumer activity affect the work of retail companies.
What are the reasons for the closure of some of the brand's stores?
A consultant in the retail real estate market and a source close to the company told Izvestia that the FunDay casual clothing brand has reduced about 50 stores in 2025. According to one of them, the retailer asks for a discount on rent, and if it does not receive it, informs the counterparty about the closure of the point.
An employee of a large development company also said that the company had sent out notices about the closure of several of its own stores. According to Evgenia Khakberdieva, regional director of the retail real estate department at NF Group, the brand is really reducing the number of its outlets as part of business optimization. According to her, as of May 2026, about 116 stores of the chain are operating in Russia.
FunDay has been undergoing sporadic changes in the structure of its retail network throughout the year, a company representative told Izvestia. According to him, this is due to an increase in the efficiency of individual locations and the development of a presence in promising shopping centers. This approach reflects the network's efforts to adapt to changes in consumer traffic and the market environment, he said. The closures are offset by new openings, and the network remains stable, he stressed. At the same time, the company did not comment on the number of liquidated stores.
Sportmaster launched the FunDay brand in 2013, with the first stores of the chain opening in Samara and Kursk. The company specializes in the production of casual clothing and accessories for women, men and children. After the withdrawal of a number of European fashion retailers from the Russian market, the chain increased the number of outlets. In particular, in Perm, she opened a store on the site of the Spanish Zara (part of Inditex) with an area of 763 square meters. m. Today, the network has 227 outlets in five countries. Sportmaster Group also includes the sports store brand of the same name and O'STIN. FunDay is managed by Austin LLC, wholly owned by Hong Kong Fashion Solutions Limited. By the end of 2025, the company's revenue under RAS amounted to 49 billion rubles, which is 13% less than a year earlier. Net profit fell 1.6 times, to 887.4 million rubles, according to the financial statements.
Why are retailers reducing the number of stores
The brand is positioned in the budget segment, aimed at young families, recalled Zulfiya Shilyaeva, Senior Director, Head of CMWP Retail Real Estate Department. It is this category of consumers, according to her, that has switched to marketplaces. The audience of online platforms is mainly made up of buyers aged 25-44 years.
Difficulties arose for all the brands of Sportmaster, a source close to the group told Izvestia. Against the background of an unstable consumer picture, the company is reviewing the structure of its retail network. In 2025, it has already liquidated 62 O'STIN stores, Izvestia wrote at the end of March. This process was due to the fact that the retailer's profitability decreased amid rising logistics and tax costs, a source with knowledge of its plans said. Last year, retail sales of this brand decreased by 17.4%, to 40.4 billion rubles, according to the disclosure. And already in April, the retailer announced a change of CEO. Denis Dolmatov was replaced in this position by Irina Osyanina, who previously oversaw operational processes as Managing Director.
Optimization processes are currently intensifying in the market against the background of slowing demand, Evgenia Khakberdieva noted. According to the results of January – March 2026, the number of purchases of clothes and shoes decreased by 4% compared to the same period in 2025, analysts at the Check Index of the OFD Platform calculated. At the same time, the median purchase price for the same period increased by 6%, to 3007 rubles.
Russian brands are more cautious about developing their networks — many minimize openings and focus on improving the efficiency of existing outlets, Evgenia Hakberdieva said. The decline in offline sales affects everyone, so the company's policy is a logical response to the new market conditions, agrees Vladimir Chernus, head of retail real estate at IBC Real Estate. For example, Gloria Jeans has reduced at least 100 outlets in less than two years, the media reported. Construction retailers have closed stores amid reduced demand for repairs. The leader of the Latoile perfumery liquidated 93 stores in 2025, and in 2026 it intends to reduce about 150 more outlets, sources told Izvestia earlier. In some chains, the share of closed or reformatted locations reached 10-15% of the portfolio last year, said a top manager of a large retail chain.
According to Zulfiya Shilyaeva, FunDay will also continue to optimize the network, reducing stores in which the share of rent in turnover exceeds acceptable figures.
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