“In the middle of October it will be opened at the Tverskoi Passage Shopping Center on Tverskaya Street,” clarified Yuliya Bystrova, Rive Gauche PR Manager (previously this area in the premises was rented by the Arbat Prestige chain – Vedomosti). The shop occupies approximately 800 sq. m. and features 170 brands of mass market and luxury perfume and cosmetic products. The store is an investment of $1.5 mln.

This summer Rive Gauche announced its desire to start operating in Moscow and the Moscow Region. The company published information on hiring personnel on a recruitment agency’s website. Currently there is one store open in the Moscow Region city of Mytishchi and a store in Elektrostal will start trading in November. The amount of investment in both stores equals 2 mln euros. The General Director of Rive Gauche, Larisa Karaban promised to develop the chain to 200 stores by 2009. Currently the chain is made up of 97 stores (43 of these are located in St. Petersburg). “Due to the crisis it’s not possible to make any predictions for the next year. There is a chance that the current situation will force us to adjust our plans,” commented a Finstar spokesman (Finstar manages Boyko’s assets).

According to the Staraya Krepost marketing agency, the volume of the perfume and cosmetics retail market in 2007 was $8.6 bln (a growth of 10.4%). Dedicated chain stores sell around 30% of goods.

The Finstar investment holding acquired 75% of the shares of Rive Gauche at the end of last year. Boyko has promised to invest 150 mln euros to develop Rive Gauche.