Moscow News:
Crisis or no crisis, women in Moscow aren’t about to be caught dead looking drab. Shopping malls are still teeming with shoppers, and glossy magazines line the supermarket shelves.
In Moscow, most retailers have tried to offset declining consumer confidence by offering small discounts since the spring, instead of waiting until June to slash tag prices. The English brand Monsoon, which typically waits until July for the bargain season, this year began offering 17 per cent off for customers who bought at least two items from the prom dress collection back in May.
By July, most retailers had resorted to 70 per cent off in some sales.
Despite rising unemployment, some data suggest that not everybody has lost the shopping habit. According to a survey by TGI-Russia, 47 per cent of Russians say their shopping habits haven’t changed at all, while 31 per cent say they have stopped buying shoes and clothes and 7 per cent say they have downshifted to cheaper brands.
On the other hand, Bloomberg recently reported significant cuts in imports of apparel from Europe. Italian exports to Russia dropped by 20 per cent and French exports by 23 per cent, according to Reinhard Doepfer, head of the European Fashion and Textile Export Council. Read full article.