Primark Stores Have Been Reopened And Their Initial Recovery Is Good.

Primark, the UK's fast fashion retailer, said on Monday that all 153 stores in the UK will be reopened in June 15th. It added that the operation was "reassuring and inspiring" from the recent re opening of stores in other regions.

Unlike most fashion retailers, sales of Primark are all carried out through physical channels, so the nationwide blockade caused by the epidemic makes it impossible for them to sell goods in stock.

Primark has temporarily closed its stores worldwide since March 11th. During the outbreak, the company lost about 650 million pounds a month. Primark has taken some measures to cut costs to offset losses and cancel some long-term orders. Governments across Europe have also helped to reduce the unemployment rate.

Up to now, Primark has reopened 112 stores worldwide, including 32 in Germany, 25 in Spain and 20 in Holland. Consumers are buying children's wear, casual wear, pajamas, shorts and T-shirts and other summer products, reflecting a good market momentum for reopening.

With the implementation of social distance and health measures, Primark now plans to open all UK stores in June 15th. Primark said it has accumulated experience from European recovery and has taken a series of measures in terms of social distance and health and safety, and has received positive feedback from customers and store staff.

At present, its stores in Northern Ireland, Welsh and Scotland are still closed, and Primark is waiting for the relevant policies in the above regions. It is now expected that stores in these areas will be reopened by the end of June.

The 112 international stores currently operating account for 34% of the total Primark sales space. By June 15th, the group will have 281 stores in the world, accounting for 79% of the total sales space.

Primark's 3 new stores that have been postponed will also open. A new store in Belgium Mons and a new store in Gropius, Berlin, Germany, have opened. The new Trafford Centre store in Manchester, UK, will open in June 15th.

No discount

At the beginning of the reopening of stores, Primark's total inventory has exceeded 1 billion 500 million, compared with 900 million of the company's stock level. Primark has promised to pay the supplier a previous reservation of 400 million pounds. (see "ornate ambition"): the epidemic has led to overstock of over 1 billion 500 million of clothing inventory. The British fast fashion giant Primark is looking for additional warehouse space. The UK fast fashion giant Primark has promised to continue to pay 370 million worth of clothing orders.

Excess inventory mainly includes "daily continuous inventory, non fashionable and non seasonal goods and some spring and summer stock". Primark said that in spring and summer, the stock will be postponed until spring 2021, and the rest will be sold in a normal way. This means that Primark will not offer a discount sale. It says, "although it is necessary to sell later, there is no need to provide a special discount beyond the normal range."

Suppressed demand

Overall, the company seems to be very confident. So far, the newly opened stores have boosted optimism, and Primark says there is a lot of depressed consumer demand. It said the sales situation is "reassuring and encouraging." Customers are queued up outside most stores, and consumers will buy more goods once they enter the store.

However, Primark acknowledges that the results of transactions since re opening are "in a very short time" and will be affected by specific factors and may not represent long-term trends. Since reopening, cumulative sales on the basis of year-on-year are generally lower than the same period last year.

There are also sales of some stores higher than last year. Only four stores had lower initial sales than last year's 50%. It includes Damrak store in downtown Amsterdam and Alexanderplatz store in Berlin. Both shops are located in the heart of the big city, and the two shops have been seriously affected by the sluggish tourism industry and the sharp decline in passenger traffic.

Primark is still taking some cost cutting measures. For example, he is in the UK "renegotiated some provisions in the lease arrangement with the landlord". The company said: "we estimated that we would be able to reduce the management cost by 50%. In April and May, this situation is better than expected. "