The year 2020 has been a terrible one for fashion retailers due to COVID-19, but things were recovering somewhat in recent months.
That recovery has now stopped as the impact of the second wave of the pandemic are being revealed by retail companies.
Swedish fashion retailer H&M, which operates two stores in Burnaby, one at Lougheed Town Centre and another at the city’s biggest mall, Metropolis at Metrotown, has seen a steep drop-off in its most recent quarter.
H&M says its sales fell 10% in the fourth quarter as the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic stalled consumer spending, cutting short a promising recovery seen in the third quarter.
The Stockholm-based company said Tuesday ahead of reporting full fourth quarter earnings in January that sales in the September to November period dropped to $6.25 billion.
Sales for the full fiscal year, which runs for the 12 months through November are down 18%.
Burnaby retailers have been closing at a rapid rate these past few months, with the loss of such stores at Davids Tea, Microsoft, Aldo (at Lougheed), Frank & Oak, Pink and more.
H&M said that the entire year 2020 was marked by the coronavirus pandemic for the company, one of the world’s largest budget fashion retailers, though the year took off with “a positive momentum."
“The H&M group started the year strongly and with a positive momentum until the first wave of COVID-19 had an impact,” the company said in a brief statement. “Extensive social restrictions involving temporary store closures and large drops in customer footfall to physical stores led to a substantial decrease in sales, particularly in the second quarter.”
A strong sales recovery followed in the third quarter, continuing for much of the fourth quarter before suffering “a new slowdown as a result of the pandemic’s second wave.”
The company will report its full fourth quarter and 2020 earnings on Jan. 29.
- With files from the Canadian Press
