The sales revenue of the Kaubamaja department stores segment in the first 3 months of 2021 was €18.4mn, which was 13.1% less than in the same period of the previous year. The pre-tax loss was €1.7mn for the Q1/2021, which was €0.7mn weaker than a year ago. The company’s sales were affected by a sharp increase of the coronavirus indicators in January, reducing the number of visitors in both Tallinn and Tartu Kaubamaja stores.

During the period, fashion sales were below expectations unlike sales of household goods which were successful. Because of a Covid outbreak, Kaubamaja had to close its department stores in Tallinn and Tartu as per 11 March (in 2020, they were closed on 27 March) and only food departments remained open. Ecommerce has grown strongly throughout the crisis period and has increased its results sixfold in terms of both turnover and number of visitors. The turnover of the Kaubamaja e-shop increased by 158% in the first quarter of 2021. In the Q1/2021, the sales revenue of OÜ TKM Beauty Eesti, which operates the I.L.U. cosmetics stores, was €1.0mn, which was 9.7% less than in the same period in 2020. In the first quarter, the loss was €0.06mn, which increased by 12.6% compared to the comparable period of 2020. The result of the first quarter was negatively affected by consumers’ more cautious attitude towards physical stores and the stores closure in March.