Having come from Bulgaria in 2003, But the effects of the economic crisis felt quite significantly in the months that followed. Therefore, the exit from the market of the Versace Jeans store in August was the only solution, after a 50% sales decline as early as in February. Contributing factors to the closure were on the one hand the very strict obligations in the franchise contract and on the other hand the gap between revenues and spending, which did not weigh as heavily before the crisis.

"The franchise contract had very tough clauses and they were not flexible at all," says Chernookova. With 7 stores and 6 luxury franchises in its portfolio, Alsa Boutiques managed to hold out better on the market: it closed the La Perla store at the beginning of the year, but recently opened a Coccinelle store on Calea Victoriei, which entailed a 250,000-euro investment. Daniel Rosner, CEO of Alsa Boutiques, says about the crisis that it had some positive aspects: "The crisis brings opportunities. We have noticed much more flexibility from our foreign partners as far as commercial terms and payment deadlines are concerned".