Store closures in China for Burberry
Burberry has become the latest luxury brand to give details of the effect the outbreak of Coronavirus is having on its business in China.
In a statement on February 7, the London-based brand said 24 of its 64 stores in mainland China remained closed, and that the Burberry stores that were open were operating reduced hours and were seeing “significant footfall declines”.
It said the spending patterns of Chinese customers in Europe and other tourist destinations had been less impacted to date but added that, given widening travel restrictions, “we anticipate these to worsen over the coming weeks”.
The company insisted it remains confident in its strategy, which, as other recent announcements confirmed, has a significant focus on China. A limited-edition range it prepared for the Lunar New Year holiday initially received what it called “a strong early consumer response”.
Other plans in the pipeline include taking its autumn-winter runway show to Shanghai, with that event scheduled to take place in April. Burberry has announced a partnership with online retail group Tencent to open a retail store in Shenzhen, immediately across the border from Hong Kong, in the first half of its next financial year, which begins in April.
It said its intention is to continue its growth initiatives in preparation for “a recovery in luxury demand”.
