Fashion house Burberry says luxury industry will need time to recover as half of its stores remain closed amid Covid-19
- ‘It’s going to take some time’ for the luxury industry to recover to pre-crisis levels, says Burberry CFO Julie Brown
- Burberry anticipates pressure on tourism destinations, emphasis on local consumers
British fashion house Burberry said the luxury industry would need time to recover to pre-crisis levels, as half of its stores are currently closed amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company reported a 27 per cent drop in comparable sales for the final quarter of the financial year ending March 28, according to preliminary results released on Friday.
“It’s going to take some time” for luxury spending to get back to where it was, said Julie Brown, chief financial operator of Burberry, in a media call.
With the health crisis destroying tourism, she emphasised the importance of attracting local clientele and ensuring a strong relationship with them.
“We are anticipating pressure on tourism destinations,” said Brown. “I think there will be clearly more of an emphasis on the local consumer going forward. The people who were shopping Burberry before when they were abroad, I can imagine they will shop more in their local destinations.”
The company said in the report that they had shortened supply chain lead times, and worked in collaboration with wholesale partners to control inventory levels as a result of the virus outbreak.