Nike leaves Russian market completely
Nike left the Russian market completely after three months of suspending operations in that country, accompanying other megabrands that have departed due to the ongoing war with Ukraine.
The US sportswear brand has cut sales in Russia, stating that the company could not guarantee product shipments and posted a notice on its Russian website saying its site and mobile app would no longer be available in the region while its more than 100 stores in the country wouldn't reopen.
"Nike has made the decision to leave the Russian marketplace. Our priority is to ensure we are fully supporting our employees while we responsibly scale down our operations over the coming months,” Nike said Thursday in an emailed statement to CBS MoneyWatch.
Networking giant Cisco also said on Thursday that it would start to fully shut down operations in Russia and Belarus. Other companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks have started to finalize their exit plans in the near future.
"Cisco remains committed to using all its resources to help our employees, the institutions and people of Ukraine, and our customers and partners during this challenging time," a spokesperson for the firm said.
Before completely pulling out, Nike said that it would not renew its contract with its largest Russian retail franchisee and would not invest in new business as only less than 1 percent of its revenue comes from Russia and Ukraine.
"What was a trickle is becoming a torrent," said Paul Musgrave, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts, regarding the increasing number of companies announcing they would leave.
Other sports brands such as Adidas (ADSGn.DE) said in March that it was also shutting its physical and online stores while Puma (PUMG.DE) also suspended its operations in March.
Tags: #NIKE, #Russia, #war