The clothing sector is recovering from its two-month coma due to confinement. If for some business is slowly picking up, others are going out of business.
Even in a delicate situation, a trader cannot give up. In Alençon (Orne), Elisabeth Riou – manager of a lingerie shop – keeps smiling. “People came back even if it was hard on the restartassures the manager of Fascination. Buying a bra is not an urgent matter so many people prefer to wait. However, some come to buy small things to give us work, it’s a more solidarity-based approach than consumption because they don’t want to see the businesses in the city center disappear.“
A wait-and-see attitude that results in a 30% reduction in turnover. If limiting access to the store to two people and quarantining tried-on clothes before being cleaned does not seem to be a problem, the deconfinement above all weakens the supply chain. “We order products 6 months in advance, but many Houses are working from home and are postponing or canceling orders.she regrets. So we’re extending the spring products that are “not great” for the summer so we’ll still find duck blue and rust in the store for the next few months! Finally it does not matter I always have black or white bras even if it is not the latest trend that will be fine.“
Supplier bankruptcies
Same story at Printemps in Tours. “We gently climb the slope” says Odile Bordet, director. The department store has recovered 80% of its turnover with a lower flow of customers: “we have better tickets (Editor’s note: purchase) because the people who come are motivated” she rejoices. The director of the establishment has noticed a surge in sales of children’s clothing, “good“purchases in all the other clothing sectors – better for men, chilly lingerie – and the home, but accessories and jewelery seem to meet”less enthusiasm“. Despite this positive picture, the store is suffering from its two months of unsold stock during confinement: “we must not let ourselves be buried by the stock, we are thinking about how to do it.“For the time being, recruitment has been stopped but no layoffs are”for now“considered. However, Odile Bordet is worried about the bankruptcy of several of her suppliers, such as the shoemaker JB Martin, founded in 1921.
Gray mine for the sector
However, these failures have multiplied in recent weeks. Camaïeu, NafNaf, La Halle, André and Verywear are just a few major brands among others to have been placed in receivership during and after confinement. According to professionals in the sector, the result is hardly surprising for a sector in crisis for 15 years. According to the French Fashion Institute, the fashion market has lost 15% of its value since 2008.
The main fault is increased competition which is weakening the economic health of clothing: “half of sales are at strikethrough pricesattests Delphine David, director of studies at Xerfi, an institute specializing in sectoral economic analysis in Ouest-France. Inevitably, this has an impact on the turnover and margins of distributors.“Yohann Petiot, managing director of the Alliance du Commerce, which brings together department stores and fashion and shoe brands, is worried about the future.”We remain in a fragile recovery. For a fortnight, the market was driven by the child market, which is now slowing down. The woman and the man were less stronghe explains in the pages of Fashion network. There is no obvious improvement in dating. So it remains to be seen what will emerge in the coming weeks.” .
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