HAMLEY'S TOY STORE MAY BE BANKRUPT

Trust Bank is going to declare the insolvency of JSC "Wonderkind". The company operates a network of retail businesses operating under the Hamley's brand. The firm is one of the structures of Ideas4Retail holding, whose main beneficiary is Alexander Mamut's firm A&NN Investments. She owns 90% of the organization's capital.

"Vanderkind" represented in Russia the British chain of goods for children Hamley's, which is currently owned by Indian entrepreneur Mukesh Abani. In total, there are more than one and a half hundred outlets of this brand in the world. However, in Russia in recent years, the network has not been successful.

The competition of Russian Hamley's stores with other market participants led to the fact that the points of sale began to change signs. In 2023, the signs were replaced by the capital's trade pavilions in the Kuntsevo Plaza shopping center, the Capitol on Verdansky shopping center and Metropolis. Now they work under the name "Vinnie", trying to preserve the range of products. It is assumed that it will be supplemented with shoes and clothes.

Experts note that the bank's litigation with the entrepreneur's structures has been going on for the last few years. In 2021, Trust appealed to the management company with a claim for 498 million rubles, because it had overdue payments by half a billion rubles. Even earlier, a lawsuit was filed for 1 billion. The organization acted as a guarantor for the obligations assumed by the Cinema Park cinema network. At the same time, as representatives of the lender reported, the total amount of debt of various Mamut enterprises was about 23.5 billion.

Trust continues its litigation with Vanderkind in the capital arbitration, demanding 2.4 billion rubles from the firm. However, no decision has been made on it yet. The next hearing is scheduled for February 16.

In turn, the company managed to recover 1.5 billion rubles from Trust Bank in December 2022. Two judicial instances sided with the firm, confirming the fact that the bank of JSC "Vanderkind" caused losses in the form of lost profits. The reason was the bank's unwillingness to continue lending.

It is known that the years 2017-2020 were unprofitable for the company. In 2021, it received 20 million net profit, receiving 991 million in revenue. Of the nine Hamley's stores operating in Russia in 2019, only two (in Sochi and in Moscow) retained the sign. At the same time, the market of goods for children, according to experts, has grown by 3.6% in the country over the past year. The trade turnover amounted to 570 billion rubles.

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