Harvey Nichols is closing in Baku

British luxury department store operator Harvey Nichols has pulled out of its first store in Azerbaijan just four months after  a high profile opening in March.

The seven-storey Harvey Nichols store opened in the oil rich nation’s fast-growing capital city of Baku offering 110,000 sqft of space selling more than 500 labels in men’s, women’s, children’s and bridalwear; a cosmetics hall, perfumery, cafe, restaurant, lounge and club. It was its largest store outside London.

Stacey Cartwright, group CEO of Harvey Nichols, said in an interview at the time that Azerbaijanis were showing an increasing demand for luxury goods and the market was “fast becoming one of the top luxury retail destinations in the world”.

But Harvey Nichols has parted ways with joint venture partner in the store, Perfomans, a subsidiary of a Baku investment company.

The reasons aren’t clear and appear to be subject to legal proceedings: “Harvey Nichols has terminated its licence agreement with the operator of the Baku store. Consequently, the Baku store no longer operates under the Harvey Nichols brand,” the retail company said in a statement. It said further comment was not possible due to “legal reasons”.

Harvey Nichols already has stores in London, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Dubai and Kuwait.