From July 2025 through June 2026, tenants shut down 2,300 outlets in Moscow shopping centers, including stores, food courts and kiosks, Kommersant reported, citing analysts. New openings compensated for only about 75% of the lost floor space.

Clothing and footwear retailers accounted for 50–60% of the closures. Home appliance and electronics stores made up 8.6%, and household goods shops 5.7%.

Experts attribute the wave of closures to a “mass optimization of retail chains”: companies are trimming store counts or pausing expansion, while new openings are more cautious and targeted. Large spaces left vacant after department store closures are harder to re-lease than units under 200 square meters.

The share of vacant space in Moscow malls rose from 9.7% to 11.6% in the first half of 2026, said Zulfiya Shilyaeva, head of retail real estate at CMWP. By year-end, the figure could reach 12.3%. Leasing up new large malls now takes 9–18 months, versus the usual 3–6.

To attract tenants, mall owners are offering rent holidays, cutting fixed payments or switching to turnover-based rent. Some landlords contribute to fit-out costs. Even when nominal rents stay flat, such concessions reduce mall revenues.

Similar trends are emerging in other major Russian cities. In St. Petersburg, vacancy rose from 4.7% to 6.8% by late June, averaging 11% across the eight largest complexes. In Kazan, 28 stores closed in the first quarter while only 13 opened. Analysts at Perfect RED estimate vacancy in the city’s quality malls grew from 4% to 5%.

Market participants link the downturn to falling consumer purchasing power, rising business costs and a shift to online marketplaces. In the first half of 2026, nine malls with a total leasable area of 94,000 square meters opened nationwide, down from 29 malls covering 276,000 square meters a year earlier. Foot traffic at Russian malls fell 2% in the first six months of the year.

One Kommersant source did not rule out that attacks on Wildberries warehouses could temporarily slow store closures ahead of the high season and push some marketplace sellers to test offline retail.