Shops are closing. Newspaper sales are falling. But we’ve chosen to keep our online journalism free because it’s so important that the people of Glasgow stay informed during this crisis.
Shops are closing. Newspaper sales are falling. But we’ve chosen to keep our coverage of the Coronavirus crisis free because it’s so important that the people of Glasgow stay informed during this difficult time.
Glasgow make-up artist Laura Dawson has worked with major brands including MAC, Bobbi Brown, Nars and Stila as well as the Elite Chanel Team in London's Mayfair.
MERCHANT city lunch favourite Sprigg will reopen a delivery service after appearing on The Glasgow Pantry this week.
I was devastated when I saw the notification ping onto my phone that Nanika were taking away some of their noodle dishes.
Several apparel makers and fast-moving consumer goods companies had earlier stepped up to produce medical-grade masks as a philanthropic act when Covid-19 struck but now it is apparent that the pandemic is set to alter lifestyles for at least some time to come.
Macy's, like many retailers, has had to close its stores, furlough employees, suspend dividend and tap into credit facilities to survive the financial hit caused by the lockdowns.
H&M, the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, said local currency sales had tumbled 57% in the March 1-May 6 period, while online sales grew almost a third.
H&M warned on April 3 it would make its first quarterly loss in many decades in March-May, its fiscal second quarter.
International brands have begun sharing prototypes of fashion masks in cotton and blends with Indian suppliers who are awaiting a nod from the Centre to export non-surgical masks.
The New York-based chain, known for preppy clothing at times worn by former first lady Michelle Obama, filed for bankruptcy in a Virginia federal court with an agreement to eliminate its roughly $1.65 billion of debt in exchange for ceding ownership to creditors.
The council had recently organised a webinar on 'Manufacturing of PPE Products under Medical Textiles', which saw about 2,000 participants, mainly apparel exporters from across the country.
The continued lockdown in April 2020 (from late March) has impacted the entire textile industry and disrupted exports, Ind-Ra said in a report.
Next said store sales plunged 52% in the 13 weeks to April 25, its fiscal first quarter, while online sales were down 32%.
The outbreak has forced the world's second-biggest fashion retailer to temporarily close stores in more than a dozen markets, including all its shops in Italy.
According to exporters, payments of previous dispatches are also withheld by importers in the UK and Europe. These exporters employ about 50,000 people, and 60% of them are women engaged in tailoring, thread-cutting and other hands-on work.
"We have to accept coronavirus as part of life. If we don't open factories, there will be economic crisis," said Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association vice president Mohammad Hatem.
The apparel retailer, which like many others in the industry has closed its stores and furloughed employees, said it had also suspended rent payments of about $115 million per month in North America.
In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, he said the council members could not clear the shipments on time because of lack of documents, "therefore, demurrage waiver may please be granted starting from March 1 till the time lockdown continues".
It is a tough time for apparel retailers who are looking at zero offline revenues and a steep drop in online sales. The latest dress or the pair of khakis may not be able to save them.
The annual index by advocacy group Fashion Revolution - now in its fifth year - ranked 250 of the world's biggest brands according to how much information they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and outcomes.
Once markets are reopened, the industry would also be braving a changing consumer spending behavior and capacity. There could be a major lag before sales begin to pick up. Fashion as a commodity is also perishable. It may be very difficult to sell the loaded inventories in warehouses, and heavy discounts would not be an attractive option at a time of slim profit margins.
Online retailers such as Myntra and Tjori have their consumer engagement teams working on to engage their customers till the time the lockdown eases. Others such as fashion brand Anita Dongre are brainstorming changes in consumer behaviour and how to keep them engaged online till the time stores become fully operational.
The body has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief ministers to facilitate payement of wages to workers for these two months. GEMA president Vijay Jindal also sought intervention of Textile Minister Smriti Irani and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the matter.
On March 24, the company had decided to temporarily close its manufacturing operations at the two units with immediate effect till further notice following announcement of nationwide lockdown to curb spread of coronavirus pandemic.
The company will continue to strictly comply with all government rules while reopening and running operations at the store. The company plans to reopen first 50 stores by 10th May, 2020.
India, the world’s largest diamond polishing hub that employs over one million people, is likely to see a staggering 50% job loss. Diamond merchants are struggling to manage their inventories or pay salaries to their craftsmen. Knock-on effects are being felt by one million more workers employed in the gems and jewellery industry.
Diamond trade at Surat has come to a halt because of the lockdown. Many workers have also left.
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Jewellery demand in the world’s second largest consumer slumped 41% to 73.9 tonnes , thanks to a 25% jump in quarterly average price to Rs 36,874 per 10 gm (ex import duty and GST) and the fallout from Covid 19, the WGC latest global demand trends report shows.
According to the World Gold Council's (WGC) Q1 Gold Demand Trends report, in terms of value India's the first quarter gold demand fell 20 per cent to Rs 37,580 crore, compared to Rs 47,000 crore in the same period of 2019.
World's gold demand during the first quarter of 2019 stood at 1070.8 tonne, according to WGC's Q1 Gold Demand Trends report.
India’s gross import of rough diamonds had declined by 13.43% to $12.39 billion between April 2019 and February 2020 from a year earlier.
The 49-year-old, who has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest last year, appeared before a UK court via videolink.
Assuming the pandemic starts subsiding by June and trade channels normalise over the next quarter, CRISIL expects a revival in demand to be pushed into the second half of the fiscal.
Mr. Ajoy Chawla, CEO, Jewellery Division at Titan Company Limited said, "All 328 Tanishq stores remain shut this year and hence it would be unfair to compare numbers with last year. But the overall customer response to tanishq.co.in from key metros and even with tier-2 and tier-3 towns has been extremely encouraging.
"As we started getting a lot of enquires from our regular customers, we have started taking Akshay Tritiya bookings online from 21st April onwards on our e-commerce platforms. The same will be delivered to the customers post lockdown ends," Aditya Pethe, director, WHP Jewellers said.
On Thursday, gold futures for June on MCX closed at Rs 46,352/10gm. So, in about one and a half years, gold prices in India could gain about 75%. In the international market, gold is currently trading at about $1,750 level.
Senco Gold & Diamonds is offering a discount on the gold rate. Sankar Sen, CMD of the Kolkata-based company, said the special Akshay Tritiya offer entails giving a discount of Rs 400 per gram on the gold rate during the offer period that runs from April 22-27.
GJC chairman Anantha Padmanabhan said, “There may be some token booking for gold by individuals for amounts like Rs 5,000 or so. But there will be no big investments in gold as all the shops are closed. The drop in demand will be around 94%.”
The lockdown has resulted in closure of retail stores across the country. Apart from this, there have been supply chain disruptions with restriction on movement of non-essential goods. While jewellery buying is generally spread throughout the year, it peaks during periods of Akshaya Tritiya, wedding and festival seasons as buying gold is considered culturally auspicious.
The revenue growth of organised gold jewellery retailers could halve to 5-6% (compound annual growth rate) in the current and next fiscals, compared with 12% in the preceding three fiscals, a CRISIL study of 44 such retailers it rates shows.
Customers can purchase the precious metal from two grams upwards following which a gold ownership certificate would be sent to them on the day of Akshaya Tritiya based on the customer recommended platforms.
We foresee a deferred demand. Most of the weddings in Q1 got pushed to Q3 or Q4 due to the lockdown. People may spend less money on destination weddings, clothes and other events around it. But we expect investment in jewellery for weddings, said Ajoy Chawla, CEO of Titan’s jewellery division.
The drop in consumption by the world's second-biggest gold buyer could limit a rally in global prices.
The coronavirus crisis is expected to lead to a spate of mergers and acquisitions of weakened brands, the closure of single-brand stores and reshaping of already suffering U.S. department stores, D'Arpizio said. Customers are also likely to emerge from global lockdowns with a new set of priorities.
The offers are on luxury products such as watches, cars and shoes, just as many other players also join the ‘lockdown bandwagon’.
While many UK companies have utilised the government's furlough scheme, which sees employees paid 80% of their salary, Burberry said it would not rely on government support for jobs in the UK where more than a third of its workers are based.
At its star Gucci label, which powers most of its profits, like-for-like sales were down 23.2% in the period, contrasting with a less pronounced 13.8% drop-off at Kering's Saint Laurent brand.
Dior, which is also owned by LVMH, the world's biggest luxury goods group, has been making masks since the end of last month for hospital staff.