Brand and retailers dealing with apparel, footwear and fashion across the United States and Europe have mostly closed their stores, either fully or partially, and continue to monitor the situation unfolding because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some fashion houses have taken the initiative to provide medical staff with adequate face masks and protection gowns.
German sportswear maker Adidas has joined rivals in announcing store closures. Adidas and Reebok-owned stores in Europe, North America and Canada are closed temporarily till March 29.Brand and retailers dealing with apparel, footwear and fashion across the United States and Europe have mostly closed their stores, either fully or partially, and continue to monitor the situation unfolding because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some fashion houses have taken the initiative to provide medical staff with adequate face masks and protection gowns.#
Adidas expects its first-quarter sales to drop by up to $1.1 billion in greater China and by more than 10 per cent overall because of the pandemic, including a drop of about €100 million in Japan and South Korea.
IKEA UK & Ireland temporarily closed its stores starting March 20. Rivals Nike, Lululemon Athletica and Under Armour have also closed their stores in the United States and other markets, joining a growing list of major retailers moving to help to limit the spread of the virus.
Fashion retailer Primark has closed all 189 of its UK stores, affecting some 37,000 employees, who will be paid full pay for 14 days. Clothing and fashion chains like John Lewis, Kurt Geiger, Topshop and New Look also announced store closures. Kurt Geiger said British National Health Service workers will receive a 50 per cent discount for a year in all of its stores once they reopen.
A group of other retailers, including M&S, Lidl, Aldi, Danone and Coca-Cola, created a new fund to support community organisations helping those most at risk during the pandemic. It has committed almost £500,000 to a fund providing micro-grants to community organisations helping people most affected by the outbreak, including the elderly and those on low incomes.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc has temporarily closed all its retail banner stores across the United States and Canada, other than its buybuy BABY and Harmon Face Values stores, subject to state and local regulations. All but nearly 175 of the company's 1,500 stores will be closed to the public until April 3.
Tailored Brands closed its e-commerce fulfillment centres starting March 20 till at least March 28, and will suspend the currently limited operations in its retail stores during this period.
Minneapolis-based specialty women’s apparel retailer Christopher & Banks Corporation has temporarily closed all stores from March 19 through March 31. Customers can continue to shop through the Company’s ecommerce website at ChristopherandBanks.com.
US footwear, apparel, and accessories maker Deckers Brands implemented additional precautionary measures and social distancing procedures at its distribution centre in Moreno Valley, California. It has resumed modified operations with limited capacity there.
US fashion retailer Nordstrom will extend its temporary store closure for at least a week, till April 5. The closure impacts all US and Canada stores, including Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Trunk Club, Jeffrey, Nordstrom Local and Last Chance. As the company will require a smaller workforce to continue critical activities, it will furlough a portion of corporate employees starting April 5 for six weeks. Impacted corporate employees will continue to receive enrolled benefits.
The Neighbourly Community Fund, started by Marks & Spencer (M&S) in the United Kingdom, will support hundreds of local organisations—from food banks to youth clubs—to immediately deliver on the ground community support to the most vulnerable. M&S stores will continue to redistribute all surplus food or flowers to the network of hundreds of organisations via Neighbourly, its charity partner.
New York-based designer Siriano has announced that his sewing team is willing to produce protective face masks. Prada will also make 110,000 masks and 80,000 overalls by April 6. The masks will be made in their factory in Montone, Italy.
Luxury conglomerate LVMH that is home to brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy and Rihanna’s Fendy has announced it would make hand sanitisers. The company has reportedly converted three of its perfume manufacturing facilities to make sanitisers.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "UBM China (Shanghai)")
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
