Focused shoppers boost Kurt Geiger, Reiss on reopening day

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 16, 2020

A number of premium and upscale retailers have reported strong trading on the first day of their stores reopening after the English lockdown eased on Monday with those who turned up to shop being very willing to spend. 

Footwear and accessories specialist Kurt Geiger did particularly well and said sales in the 24 shops that opened on June 15 were up 50% year-on-year. The company has another 33 shops that aren't yet open. 

It also said that branches in key shopping destinations such as Westfield London and Covent Garden saw their sales more than doubling compared to the same day in 2015.

But the company, which is donating its store profits from the first month of reopening to NHS charities, recognised that Monday was far from a normal trading day and that such a strong uplift is unlikely to continue.

Yet CEO Neil Clifford call the results of the first day's trading "encouraging", particularly in those two flagship branches. The day’s sales had actually been better than expected, but he added that Monday was obviously different to a normal day would be and “consistency on a day by day basis” is what’s really needed.

Meanwhile, Reiss CEO Christos Angelides said that footfall to the chain was lower than last year, but he told The Standard newspaper that “those who shopped, did so with intent, resulting in sales being higher than last year and much better than we anticipated”.

Like Kurt geiger, the company hasn't got all of its branches open yet but more will reopen towards the end of this week and management will be monitoring the overall situation very closely. The company’s webstore also continues to operate strongly.

Suitmaker Dege & Skinner of Savile Row also told the newspaper that footfall to the street appeared to be less than a usual Monday, but the company had several fittings on the day. MD William Skinner said: “We have had more customers booking appointments for the rest of the week, this has been a positive start to reopening, and we are working hard to keep our bespoke customers happy.”