In the year 2025, Russia Mart stores in cities like Changsha, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Chongqing in China have been closing down one after another. Some of the remaining stores are barely making daily revenue of less than 2000 yuan (RMB) each day. The trend of Russia Mart is gradually fading away.
According to a report by “Blue Whale News” under the Shanghai Press Group on July 22, the rise and fall of Russia Mart only took a few months. Most of the stores have been operating for less than half a year, with some closing down in less than three months. Even those stores still in business are struggling and on the brink of closure. An employee revealed, “Now that the weather has turned hot, business is not as good as before. Daily sales are only around one or two thousand yuan.”
Facing a slump in business, many Russia Mart stores have resorted to promotional tactics such as offering “30% off storewide, clearance sales, and selling at a loss.”
Mr. Lao Ji, the owner of a Russia Mart in Anhui, mentioned, “The boom has passed, and the customer flow has significantly decreased. Currently, I am offering buy one get one free deals on my products, but it’s still hard to make sales. I won’t be restocking anymore after clearing out this inventory. Luckily, I don’t have much stock left. Once I finish selling this batch, I plan to switch to a different business.”
Mr. Lao Ji further stated, “Now the daily revenue is less than 2000 yuan. Considering labor costs, utilities, and renovations, we are operating at a loss.”
By the end of 2024, Russia Mart, with the bear as its symbol and the colors blue and white as its main theme, showcasing Russian products, emerged in major cities across China. These stores were not only present in first and second-tier cities like Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Shenzhen but also rapidly expanding in smaller cities and counties. Russia Mart focused on imported goods as its core selling point, specializing in Russian snacks, bread, dairy products, nesting dolls, daily necessities, and other Russian specialty items. However, at the beginning of this year, a sudden surge in negative discussions online about counterfeit Russian products led to a sharp decline in sales for the stores.
The Russian Embassy in China also stepped forward, stating that some stores were falsely selling counterfeit or non-Russian produced goods under the guise of Russian products. These products often do not meet quality standards and differ from similar Russian-made products, but they use Russian text on the packaging to mimic products’ origins.
The report suggests that the major downturn in Russia Mart is primarily due to a significant amount of off-brand products being sold during operations. Some stores used the Russian name to sell items that were actually produced in places like Heilongjiang.