Tallink Group acquires franchise for Esprit brand in Estonia

ESTONIA. Tallink Group has acquired the rights to manage franchise stores in Estonia for fashion brand Esprit. It plans to expand Esprit’s presence onboard its ships and in the local market.

The company said that the proportion of fashion & accessories sales within its mix had grown steadily in recent years.

“Esprit is a well-known brand which is loved across the globe and their products are also popular among our customers,” said Tallink Duty Free Head Aimar Pärna. “Tallink has a long-term partnership with Esprit already and we’ve been successfully selling the brand’s products for a number of years. Becoming the brand’s official representative here in Estonia is a positive development for our partnership and will further enhance our cooperation.”

Tallink says that fashion & accessories is a growing part of its sales mix today, with Esprit a strong performer

Tallink Grupp will take over running three existing Esprit retail stores in Estonia, two in Tallinn and one in Tartu. Until recently, these were managed by A&G Kaubandus.

Pärna added: “The three new brand shops provide us with a great opportunity to further develop our retail expertise. The new shops will enable us to get more insights into the buying preferences and habits of the Estonian consumers, all of which we can use to successfully develop our retail activities both onboard and on shore.”

Esprit Head of Retail & Wholesale Finland and Baltics Piia Rossi said: “Estonia is a very important and developing market for Esprit and we are looking forward to building an even broader customer base and developing our stores further. We have a successful cooperation with Tallink Grupp already for years, and are looking forward to Tallink also becoming our franchise partner, strengthening our presence in Estonia.”

Tallink already has a restaurant franchise with the BurgerKing chain; Esprit is its first franchise partnership in retail.

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