Reduced consumer spending and changes in the demand structure in the local boutique and fashion clothing sector are beginning to catch up with providers here and this will eventually result in significant changes in the industry, according to the proprietor of one of the city’s leading fashion stores.
“The market is definitely shrinking and the industry will have to find ways of responding to that reality,” Proprietor of John Lewis Styles, John Lewis told Stabroek Business in an interview earlier this week.
And according to Lewis increased competition in the fashion clothing sector has resulted in large measure from the changing clothing acquisition patterns. “Interestingly, while the demand for fashion clothing is still strong more people are sourcing their clothing outside of the local shops. Apart from internet shopping more people have access to clothing from relatives who may be living in North America and working at stores. In fact some people have access to so much clothing that they run small boutique businesses out of their homes.
Lewis told Stabroek Business that John Lewis Styles was seeking to respond to the changes in the industry by undertaking more careful pre-acquisition research. “If, for example, there is another Guyanese buyer shopping in Panama I probably would not shop there. It really makes no sense in several retailers offering the same lines of fashion clothing in such a small market as ours,” Lewis said.
The fashion store proprietor who told Stabroek Business that he will shortly be travelling to Las Vegas to attend a major international buyers’ market there said that his shift in focus will be informed by efforts to broaden his customer base. “While we do not intend to compromise our reputation for quality we intend to move further in the direction of making the store more accessible to ordinary customers.” He said that one of the decisions that he had taken was that the store would be offering “a broader range of high quality department store brands that are suitable for use as “working clothes.”
Meanwhile, according to the proprietor John Lewis Styles recorded a 20 per cent increase in sales in 2008 over the previous year. He added however, that the sales figures increase in 2008 had to take account of the fact that 2007 was not a good year for the fashion clothing sector.
And Lewis is predicting that this year could be another difficult year for the sector. “Those of us in the industry have got to be practical.
Consumers have other demands on their spending that rate higher than fashion clothing and we need to be more aware of those demands.
Marketing strategies that seek to offer customers practical items of clothing at reasonable prices are likely to do far better in the present market conditions, he added.
