H&M, GAP, ZARA, and Other Famous Fashion Brands Closed Down Physical Store World Wide Due To Covid-19
With the retails business all are getting affected badly during the closure month on the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. It is surprising that larger and larger fashion retail line is getting stuck in the financial crisis issues. But at the moment, it is still unclear if Singapore stores are getting affected or not. Here are some of the list which has been affected so far.
1. Aldo – in early May, Aldo has filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors in Canada and this well-known footwear brand which has over 3,000 stores worldwide said that this measure has to be taken and the pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic is really placing them in a hard task.
2. H&M – announced that it will close down 170 stores worldwide which is about 40% of its stores. This Swedish fashion brand has reported a 50% drop on sales during the lockdown periods and currently, they are focusing on its online business hoping for a recovery.
3. Esprit – In April, Esprit announced that they will close down all Asian stores by June 30, with the exception of stores in China, while stores in Singapore are the ones affected by Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. This whole industry has been affected by this crisis and the impacts are now in Europe.
4. Victoria’s Secret – with their plans to close down 250 stores in the US and Canada permanently in the coming months as they are expecting more closure beyond 250 stores this year which might prolong until 2022 by Victoria’s Secret Chief Financial Officer Stuart Burgdoerfer.
5. GAP – the US retailer Gap which has stated that they will close five of its eight stores in Hong Kong after their report on a quarterly loss of approximately US$1 billion (S$1.4 billion) in June.
6. Guess – this American clothing brand Guess is planning to close around 100 stores across the globe as the sales been taking hit strongly by the ongoing pandemics, to cut its losses, Guess has been making retrenchment move and significantly reduced the sales of management.
7. Zara – with the closure of 1,200 stores worldwide by 2021, this is due to the coronavirus effects and will instead focus on expanding their larger stores which are also on the planning to make their business to the online platform.
Image by Reuters.