Kalogirou: The plans for Elliniko and the turnaround in the Fais era

By George Lampiris

The Kalogirou company, which is preparing its entry into Elliniko, is now on a path of recovery and return to profitability.

When the company was acquired by the Fais group in the summer of 2017, it maintained liabilities to suppliers amounting to 17 million euros, to the State 7 million euros (distributed debts to IKA-tax office) as well as an additional 17 million euros in bank loans.

According to sources close to the group, out of the 7 million euro liabilities to the State, about 60% was repaid and from the liabilities to suppliers, 80% was repaid under a consolidation agreement.

Over the years the company has managed to streamline its operating costs and its retail network, relocating stores to new locations, renovating some of the existing ones, while at the same time adding new stores where deemed necessary.

In the context of the moves implemented by Kalogirou was the rationalization of the number of staff.

Store shutdowns, relocations and new points of sale

The restructuring of the chain’s network included, among other things, the closure of stores that were deemed unprofitable for the operation of the business.

Such cases were the points of sale of Patission, Pandrosos (Monastiraki), Herodotus (Kolonaki), while at the same time it carried out renovations in the emblematic store Kalogirou on Patriarchou Ioakeim Street in Kolonaki, in the store Charalas in Athens and Glyfada in Glyfada Mall and moved Tod’s boutique from the pedestrian street of Bucharest to Panepistimiou Street.

In addition, he created a new point of sale for Kalogirou in the Stadium, the Philipp Plein boutique on the same street, while he stopped the operation of the Ferragamo boutique and renovated the Charalas store in the Golden Hall shopping center. It is noted that Kalogirou undertook during the period of ownership of the Fais group and the distribution of Donna Karan New York.

Total investments 4 million euros

The investment plan implemented by the Fais group for Kalogirou has as its main goal the optimization of the gross profit and the return of the pre-existing customer of Kalogirou and the other monothematic brands that it manages, bringing at the same time a newer customer audience in its stores. The total investment amounted to about 4 million euros.

The above actions resulted in the end of 2019 the rationalization of the gross profit margin with the achievement of operating profitability.

The pandemic intervened, which significantly upset the data. In 2021 it is expected to close with a positive Ebitda for Kalogirou, while from 2022 if unforeseen conditions do not mediate it will become profitable.

The plans for Elliniko

In the next steps is the renovation of the other stores, while the company has expressed interest in the project of Elliniko both for the Marina Galleria shopping center that will be created on Poseidonos Avenue, and for the mall that will be created on Vouliagmeni Avenue.

The Mall of Vouliagmeni will host stores such as Geox and Charalas, while the Marina Galleria will host the Kalogirou store and the high end monobrands it manages.

As for the outlet points it maintains, the store at the Fashion City Outlet has been closed since December 2020, and maintains McArthur Glen, One Salonica and the other two points in the Factory Outlet malls. However, it will consider closing one of the two points in the Factory Outlet.

Meanwhile, during the pandemic, it renewed all three e-shops Kalogirou, Charala and All About Shoes, resulting in a strong increase in sales on the online channel.

It is noted that the turnover of the online stores corresponds to a percentage of more than 15% of the total turnover of the company, from about 8% that was before Covid-19.