The Brussels traders hope for a good bargain period so that they can still partially compensate for the bad autumn sales and moderate winter sales. The sales will start tomorrow.
Although the winter purchases officially only start on January 3, there were non-faulted price reductions that the customer learns in the store at Filippa K, the fashion store, in the last few days. “We are a Swedish brand,” explains sales employee Céline. “In Sweden the bargains start two weeks earlier, the Filippa K stores abroad can also launch price reductions.”
Nevertheless, it is still very calm in the business. And that has been it for a long time. “We have not had a good months,” says Céline. “Even on Saturday it was calm, and the end of the year was not beautiful either.”
Inflation the prices have risen sharply, she acknowledges. “People pay more attention to the price tag and are therefore looking forward to the sales. Many find it too expensive now. ” The brand will therefore immediately reduce the prices. “The reductions start by thirty percent other years. Now it will start immediately with forty percent and in a few days you will be able to buy many pieces from at least fifty percent. ”
Cut: Fashion Stories
Whether it will be good sales for traders is to watch coffee grounds, says Isolde Delanghe, director of Mode Unie, the federation of independent fashion traders. “On the one hand we feel that people are waiting for the bargains, the Belgian is a real sales buyer anyway. But on the other hand we have to be realistic: it is waiting to see if the people, with all those negative reports, will really get the hand off. ”
The past year could be divided into two pieces for fashion stores, says Delanghe. “In the spring and summer, it was really very well sold. Corona was out of the picture, parties were overtaken, people went to festivals, the mood was positive. The war was already raging in Ukraine, but the awareness of the energy crisis had not really penetrated yet. “
At the end of the summer, however, that crisis became palpable. “The persistent news about the war, rising energy costs and inflation made people afraid of spending money. And then we were also unlucky that it was a very warm late summer. In October we got 25 degrees. Nobody buys a winter sweater with such temperatures. So two months of the already short winter season fell away. “
Winter Shot
In November and December the traders were able to make a small catch -up movement. Delanghe: “Thanks to the winter prick and the end -of -year sale. But globally 5.5 percent less was sold this season than in the winter of 2021. Yet again a damper after four coronase azens that have not yet been completely digested. ”
The hope for a good bargain period is therefore great. “I think it will be better than expected,” says Delanghe. “Of course it is not that cold now, but it is still vacation.”
A survey that Mode Unie held together with entrepreneurial organization UNIZO shows that 64.7 percent of traders expect to sell this sales period as much or more than in January 2022.
This article is originally published on bruzz.be
