Russia's largest retail book chain, Reed-Gorod (together with Bookbud, has more than 640 stores), is gradually closing its stores in small oil towns. Its head, Alexander Brychkin, spoke about it in an interview with RBC. The population's interest in shopping in cities as a whole, according to him, is significantly decreasing, and "there simply isn't enough traffic." Now "Kara-Gorod" exists in almost all regions of the country and is ready to consider expansion in each of them, Barichkin noted. "But you have to understand that we don't have enough readers in all the cities. In some cases, you have to make a difficult but nevertheless necessary decision about leaving. Because there simply aren't enough people reading in the city," he said. According to Brichkin, there are no talks with the administration of such cities before the departure. "We are too small for this kind of conversation. We strive to develop reading in the areas where we are. We hope that through this we will also increase the intellectual potential of the country. But the costs of launching in a new format are quite large. We invest up to ₽100 thousand for each square meter of a new store. And if we don't have enough buyers to return these investments, then it's a question of the viability of such a business," said the head of the company. Riad-Gorod could change its repayment horizons if the key rate is lowered, Barchkin added. But for this to happen, it must be "significantly below 10%". "If the rate slows down, more and more objects will fit into our target return model. And it will expand our capabilities. We will be able to reach a situation where even people in small towns will be able to enjoy high-quality intellectual shopping," concluded the head of the Kira-Arim organization. In the last two years alone, the book chain has invested about 2 billion rubles in the development of their stores and restyling, said Brychkin. Most stores are on their return track.

Russia's largest retail book chain, Reed-Gorod (together with Bookbud, has more than 640 stores), is gradually closing its stores in small oil towns. Its head, Alexander Brychkin, spoke about it in an interview with RBC. The population's interest in shopping in cities as a whole, according to him, is significantly decreasing, and "there simply isn't enough traffic." Now "Kara-Gorod" exists in almost all regions of the country and is ready to consider expansion in each of them, Barichkin noted. "But you have to understand that we don't have enough readers in all the cities. In some cases, you have to make a difficult but nevertheless necessary decision about leaving. Because there simply aren't enough people reading in the city," he said. According to Brichkin, there are no talks with the administration of such cities before the departure. "We are too small for this kind of conversation. We strive to develop reading in the areas where we are. We hope that through this we will also increase the intellectual potential of the country. But the costs of launching in a new format are quite large. We invest up to ₽100 thousand for each square meter of a new store. And if we don't have enough buyers to return these investments, then it's a question of the viability of such a business," said the head of the company. Riad-Gorod could change its repayment horizons if the key rate is lowered, Barchkin added. But for this to happen, it must be "significantly below 10%". "If the rate slows down, more and more objects will fit into our target return model. And it will expand our capabilities. We will be able to reach a situation where even people in small towns will be able to enjoy high-quality intellectual shopping," concluded the head of the Kira-Arim organization. In the last two years alone, the book chain has invested about 2 billion rubles in the development of their stores and restyling, said Brychkin. Most stores are on their return track.