Even allowing stores to stay open hasn’t stopped a second wave of COVID-19 lockdowns hitting fashion sales in the U.S., Australia and across Europe, heightening fears of wide-scale bankruptcies, Vogue Business reported. Fashion and general merchandise revenues decreased an average of 7.3% across the U.S., in the week ending 19 July, aggregated debit and credit card spending data by Affinity Solutions shows. In California, Texas and Arizona, the declines were considerably higher, with California falling 19.9%, Texas down 13.2% and Arizona slumping 18%, per data from Opportunity Insights, a team of economists based at Harvard University. Fashion retailers have been among the worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with many already on the verge of administration or making significant cuts to their store network and workforce. A resurgence of COVID-19 in the U.S., Australia and some European countries and further lockdowns have come as many governments have announced plans to taper off support for businesses. These trends, compounded by the stress that intermittent reopening and reclosing has on businesses, could lead many more retailers into bankruptcy by the end of the year. Retailers in the U.S. have generally been allowed to keep operating even as other measures to combat COVID-19 have been reintroduced.
