FITCH and DETSKIY MIR Group of Companies announce the completion of the first stage of implementation of a new retail concept

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Detskiy Mir Group of Companies (translated as the “World for Children”), the largest children’s retail chain in Russia, and the branding consultancy Fitch announce the first stage of a new, large-scale retail concept rollout. Four Detskiy Mir stores in Moscow have been re-designed according to the new retail concept, all located in new shopping malls developments.

Fitch’s retail concept includes a brand communications system for the retail space, in-store navigation and zoning principles. The developed concept is flexible and can be applied to many different store formats.

Fitch was appointed by Detskiy Mir in March 2007 to create a brand that would become a category leader in children’s retail, and a store environment that would appeal equally to children and adults. Fitch undertook the full scope of works, including; current retail concept audit, trends analysis of the international children’s retail sector, and development of a new visual language and new retail concept for the chain.

The design language and colour scheme are based on the well known corporate identity of Detskiy Mir, i.e. four colorful cubes turned at a 25 degree angle towards each other. To achieve the required balance between toy and clothing sales, the customer journey was designed to satisfy both rational and emotional customer requirements. The rational area includes the following zones - shoes, girls’ clothing, boys’ clothing and maternity, while the emotional area includes Creative, Reading and Play zones. ”Rational” vs “Emotional” are determined by the scale of a child’s participation in the shopping process. Each category has been allocated a unique colour that helps to segment and find necessary products in the retail space.

The in-store navigation system includes navigation signage for both adults and children. Navigation for adults includes signage and colour solutions for key product zones, while the children’s navigation system is based upon the Detskiy Mir brand hero – a dog called Djoma - who is the kids’ host around the store. Djoma shows children how to use the toys and games, and is interactive and entertaining. This helps to involve children in the shopping process - which, in itself, helps the adult to make the right purchase.

Anastasiya Laska, Director for Marketing and Advertising at Detskiy Mir, comments: “Using advanced retail design technologies helps us not only to make the most of our brand potential – its history and brand awareness – but also to develop deeper relationships with our customers. Now we are offering the widest assortment of children goods on the Russian market and our aim is to make our stores multifunctional, comfortable and appealing. Detskiy Mir today is more than just a store – this is a true centre for communication between parents and children, where they can make necessary and pleasant purchase and spend great time with all the family”. Elena Chuvakhina, Head of Business Development for Russia at Fitch, says: “This project is unique for children’s retail in Russia, as well as for the Western market, as here we face a large target audience and assortment of goods. In order to achieve our client’s goals we developed practical and easy-to-use retail principles, a customer journey for both parents and children, and a unique and memorable brand experience. We are happy that we got a chance to make our input in the development of the Detskiy Mir brand which is well-known to each Russian from childhood”.

Detskiy Mir Group (the Children's world) is the largest children's goods retail chain in Russia. Now the Group consists of retail chain Detskiy Mir, wholesale operator C-Toys and luxury center Yakimanka Children’s Gallery The national retail chain Detskiy Mir has cumulative trading area of over 220 000 square meters. It comprises 128 super- and hypermarkets in 67 cities of Russia and 2 stores in Ukraine. C-Toys is one of the exclusive Russian distributors of children goods in Russia. It operates under the license of companies such as The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, Sony Pictures, Marvel and others. It produces its own range of carnival dresses. Yakimanka Children’s Gallery is a luxury trade center with goods for children under 14 years old with trading area of 3560 square meters. For the year ended December 31, 2007, Detsky Mir Group reported combined US GAAP revenues of US$ 597.2 million in 2007 (year-on-year growth 78%) and US$ 335.3 million in 2006 (year-on-year growth 62%). More than 99,9% of the shares of Detsky Mir - Centre JSC are owned by Sistema JSFC.

Sistema is the largest public diversified corporation in Russia and the CIS, which manages fast growing companies operating in the telecommunications, consumer services sectors and technology industries and has over 100 million customers. Sistema develops and manages market-leading businesses in selected industries, including telecommunications, technology, banking, real estate, retail, media, tourism and healthcare. Founded in 1993, the company reported revenues of US$ 12.6 billion for the first nine months of 2008 (unaudited), and total assets of US$ 32.0 billion as at September 30, 2008 (unaudited). Sistema’s shares are listed under the symbol SSA on the London Stock Exchange, under the symbol AFKS on the Russian Trading System (RTS), under the symbol AFKC on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX), and under the symbol “SIST” on the Moscow Stock Exchange (MSE).

FITCH is a renowned international design and branding agency with over 35 years expertise in all things retail. The company has 15 studios in 9 countries, employs 500 people and is part of the WPP Group. Key clients include Disney, Toys R Us, Lego, Hush Puppies, Mint Toy Museum, Tesco, Marks&Spencer, Central Food Retail, Debenhams, Harrods, Coffee Republic, Tchibo, Vodafone, Nokia, Dixons, HSBC, Belgian Post, Audi, Dunlop, Nissan. Among FITCH clients in Russia and CIS are Detsky Mir, TS-Retail (TOCHKA stores), Russian Post, Betalink, White Wind Digital, E.D.A., Tiger Asset Management, Kazkommertsbank.