According to the Textile Trade Association (BTE), stationary fashion retail in Germany will not be able to match the sales of the last pre-pandemic year 2019 this year either. “The fashion market ended the first half of the year with a double-digit minus of probably 10 percent to 12 percent compared to 2019,” said the President of the Textile Trade Association (BTE) Steffen Jost to the industry journal “Textilwirtschaft”. “I don’t think that the minus can be made up for in the second half of the year.”
The fashion trade is currently confronted with a variety of problems – such as high inflation, the lack of staff and bottlenecks in the supply chains. “The worst will be when consumers’ spending budgets shrink and they consider where to cut back on spending. Unfortunately, fashion is quickly in view, »said Jost. On the other hand, people have more savings than ever before and the employment situation is stable. That gives hope.
Jost, who runs five fashion houses himself, recommended that the shops hold back on discount campaigns in view of the uncertainties. He himself does the same in his shops. “In previous years we started with reductions much earlier, but at the moment I don’t see any reason for it. The weather is fine, the warehouse is clean, so why should we lower the prices?” said the BTE President. (dpa)