For the consultants of the CMC-Ukraine community, working with the participants of the project is an opportunity to gain insight into a mystery of resilience of the Ukrainian people. The processes going on on the economic front are also about heroism, creativity, obstinacy and faith.

Our today’s story is about a man who changed his smart classic suit into a T-shirt and jeans in order to continue to do his and his family’s favorite thing in wartime Kharkiv. 

For around 20 years Miroslav Kindrachuk has been providing clothes for Ukrainian men, developing their taste for wearing business suits. Together with his wife Tetyana, they created a trade mark TAMIR, which is now famous not only in Kharkiv, but also beyond it. They actively developed not only the company, but this industry as well. Miroslav is a member of the board of the Kharkiv Fashion Cluster.

Miroslav Kindrachuk’s first step within the project was the decision to open a brand store in one of the shopping centers of Kharkiv. After the last locations of the stores were hit by missiles and numerous attempts to open stores in other cities were made, the decision to stay true and keep moving forward was made.

He knows the history of suit very well, he is excellently aware of trends, fabrics, furniture; has plenty of visions on how modern Ukrainian men can and should look, wearing qualitative clothing of Ukrainian producers. However, at the moment, the request for restrained colors, “military” style, practicality and durable fabrics dominates – for more than 200 days, Kharkiv and its residents live under fire of russian missiles and artillery. And the director of the Kharkiv Fashion Cluster Oleg Yegorov is defending Kharkiv region on the front line.  

“Recently, I have visited a partly destroyed market “Barabashovo”. It is the place where everything started for us as far back as the late 90s. Despite the war, I am certain about the fact that I will not return there. We will develop and stay in Kharkiv until the end, – that is how Miroslav explained his need for consulting services. – Right now, many Ukrainian men have changed suits into camouflage and the demand for our production has decreased. Suppliers refuse to deal with dangerous regions. We had to close down all the physical stores, the only thing left is an online-shop without proper management, because due to the war we have almost lost our old team.

Here comes the moment when I need to do everything with my own hands. To reborn, like a Phoenix, and work. There is no time for reflection, no long planning horizons – there is only here and now. Because Kharkiv is a ferroconcrete city!” – shares Miroslav Kindrachuk.

Right now, Miroslav himself is in charge of the processing of online orders from the internet store. That is the reason why the founder and owner of the TM TAMIR joined the project “Business Development Services Provided to Ukrainian MSME in crisis due to the ongoing war” with the request for developing a plan for communication in digital channels.

The results received in the project Miroslav Kindrachuk describes the following way:

“The most valuable thing was the fact that the project consultant Nadiia Serskykh did not set any unachievable goals for me and did not demand to immediately get out of the comfort zone. 😊 The work in the project was a great incentive to remember what we already know how to do and do it better. We made understandable small steps, and each one of them was thoroughly discussed and worked over.

I rethought the target audience which, by the way, had significantly changed. I clearly see the strong qualities of my business, I have got an idea of how we should communicate with customers right now, from wartime Kharkiv. I personally can manage not only the internet shop, but also work planning in digital channels. It is indeed great help in business management.”

Despite the difficulties and challenges, the light industry of Kharkiv is alive and working, not all the producers have left the city. By giving consulting support to TAMIR collection for men as a part of the project, we support the industry, protect the interests of the producers, have an opportunity to represent their products to the consumers while at the same time expanding the product range.”

The project continues, there are a lot of special stories ahead!