The community of German hat shops eV (GDH) drew a positive balance of the 2022 financial year on Wednesday. According to a survey of member companies, hat retail sales exceeded the previous year’s level by 22.8 percent and “almost reached the pre-pandemic sales level,” the association said.
Angela Breiter, the 1st chairwoman of the GDH, emphasized the special qualities of the industry in view of the latest development: The “advice-strong” hat retail trade is “keeping up in the current crisis in comparison to the general textile trade”, she explained in a statement. “It shows that the consumer makes more careful purchases and pays attention to his financial means. We benefit from this as a specialist retailer that offers more than mere consumption.”
The hat retailers were also able to continue to benefit from the fact that they had expanded their online business in view of the temporary store closures during the pandemic years. “Before the corona crisis, it was at most a quarter of the retailers who were active online, now it is almost two-thirds of all survey participants at 60 percent,” emphasized Breiter.
According to the association, the largest share of total sales in 2022 was headgear for men, which contributed 59 percent. Women’s products accounted for 32 percent, with children’s hats accounting for the remaining nine percent.