The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
SKP Beijing racked up over 17 billion yuan (around $2.7 billion) in sales last year, according to Beijing Daily, outpacing renowned British department store Harrods’ pre-pandemic performance.
SKP Beijing welcomed 15 million visitors in 2020, while the company’s outpost in Xi’an saw year-on-year growth of 36 percent, according to local media outlet 36Kr. In 2019, SKP Beijing was named the world’s second-most productive department store after Harrods in a report by GlobalData and Sybarite.
SKP’s China locations were boosted by a rebound in domestic demand last year. Meanwhile, global travel restrictions have hurt Western players like Harrods, which could count on a regular footfall of high-spending tourists to bouy sales before the pandemic. For its financial year ending February 1, 2020, just over a month before the country’s first lockdown, Harrods reported turnover of £870.8 million ($1.1 billion). However, by July, Harrods said it was anticipating a 45 percent drop in annual sales on the back of a 95 percent drop in visitors to its Knightsbridge flagship.
Harrods declined BoF’s request to comment.
The luxury goods maker is seeking pricing harmonisation across the globe, and adjusts prices in different markets to ensure that the company is”fair to all [its] clients everywhere,” CEO Leena Nair said.
Hermes saw Chinese buyers snap up its luxury products as the Kelly bag maker showed its resilience amid a broader slowdown in demand for the sector.
The group’s flagship Prada brand grew more slowly but remained resilient in the face of a sector-wide slowdown, with retail sales up 7 percent.
The guidance was issued as the French group released first-quarter sales that confirmed forecasts for a slowdown. Weak demand in China and poor performance at flagship Gucci are weighing on the group.