Page 16 - Ragtrader Magazine April 2020

16 APRIL 2020 NEWS FEATURE WWW.RAGTRADER.COM.AU CORONAVIRUS
Hard pill to swallow Australian fashion retailers are bravely dealing with COVID-19, Imogen Bailey reports.
NO-ONE COULD HAVE predicted the im- pact of COVID-19.
Originating in China and develop- ing at a rapid rate, the unprecedented virus hit the world’s manufacturing hub hard.
Already slowed by Chinese New Year celebrations, industries across the globe saw their manufacturing come to a grinding halt as the virus became more pronounced as China locked down the Wuhan area and restricted travel across the country in a bid to slow down and stop the spread.
The measures – some of which are still in place – have impacted the Australian fashion industry which relies on China to produce a large proportion of its garments and footwear.
Tony Bianco is one of many.
Tony Bianco director Anthony Bianco says that the delay in production means that winter stock will arrive late.
“The biggest thing is the time factor now. Everyone normally gets their winter deliv- eries in February-March as our key season.
“Luckily enough we had a lot of winter deliveries pre-Chinese New Year.
“But winter you’ll find will be mas- sively delayed I’d imagine for a lot of people who won’t have winter product. If their [factories] aren’t back until mid- March you’re talking late April delivery so you could see a lot less winter product on the shelves.
“We all get our winter deliveries in early to get a read through February and March and repeat April, May and June when it’s cold,” he says.
To combat this delay, Bianco suggests that many companies will look to air freight stock in, despite it being costly for business.
“It’s going to impact massively in terms of deliveries, businesses will probably have to air freight stuff which costs a lot, so then that puts pressure on margins.
“It’s just a snowball effect. It’s unknown. When the factories come back – how will they come back? Will they be at full capac- ity? A factory might come back and they might have 500 workers but 100 of them might be from that district and can’t get back. Therefore, production will be lower which impacts deliveries.