According to a report by Spain’s EuroLang.com, as the temperature slowly warms up, spring is approaching. However, Chinese businessmen engaged in the clothing and shoe industries in Spain do not feel the warmth of spring. On the contrary, a large number of unsalable clothing and shoes are piled up in warehouses. , the funds invested in the early stage are still unable to be withdrawn; as small business owners, some clothing store and shoe store owners have also changed careers or gone bankrupt because they could not withstand the impact of the economic depression. This makes them unable to see the future in the spring of 2009. to effectively resist the economic crisis.
The seasonal change period in March every year is a small climax for clothing and footwear sales. During this period, Tian, a retailer engaged in clothing and footwear, always goes to the warehouse wholesale area on Sunday morning to buy new seasonal clothing. . However, in 2009, Tian never purchased any winter clothing because there was a large amount of winter clothing accumulated in his warehouse that could not be sold. Tian said: “Winter clothes came in, but they were not sold throughout the whole winter. The funds could not be returned. There was no way to continue to buy new goods when the seasons changed. And even if new goods are bought now, fewer and fewer people are buying clothes. We can’t guarantee whether we can get the funds back during the season change, so we are taking it one step at a time and trying to reduce our losses by lowering the rent. However, if the economic crisis continues, it will be a matter of time before my clothing store closes. ”
It is understood that the clothing store opened by Tian in Madrid has a history of 6 years, and there are three other clothing stores coexisting in the area near Tian’s clothing store. In the past, although these clothing stores competed with each other and offered discounts to attract customers, on the whole they were still profitable. However, after the economic crisis began in 2008, even though several other clothing stores had launched price cuts and discounts early, they still failed to attract customers to come to buy, causing business to plummet.
Tian said: “In the past, no matter whether it was winter or the season change between winter and spring, I could basically maintain a monthly profit of around 3,000 euros no matter how bad it was. However, starting after Christmas in 2008, in addition to more than 4,000 euros a month, The rent, water, electricity, and labor are Euros, but more than 1,000 Euros have to be paid to subsidize the store’s business.”
During the investigation, it was found that clothing stores in Madrid have announced price reductions and discounts early on, and some have even reduced prices by as much as 70%. Not only is this the case in Madrid, but the clothing industry discounts in Barcelona, Valencia and other places also exceed the annual spring discount period in Spain. In some places, clothing store owners even sell some outdated clothes at low prices in order to get rid of the old goods they have hoarded and collect funds. Discount sale.
Small business owners cannot sustain their business, which also leads to losses in wholesalers’ business. In the warehouse area, Wang Mou, who specializes in the wholesale clothing business, told reporters: “In the past, every weekend, many businessmen came to pick out the new clothes that were just launched. However, since the end of last year, although we have continued to introduce various New clothing still cannot attract individual businesses. After all, in the current economic crisis, people have to satisfy their appetites first, and they no longer pay attention to clothing.”
This situation does not only happen to the clothing business. The shoe industry, which many Chinese businessmen once flocked to, has also been hit hard by the economic crisis.
In the warehouse district, a Chinese businessman who came all the way from Barcelona said that since October 2008, the shoe store he ran could no longer maintain normal operations, and only sold more than 20 pairs during the Christmas period. Such a sluggish business left him unable to pay rent, water, electricity, and labor expenses, so he had to come to Madrid’s warehouse district to find channels for purchasing small commodities, hoping to transform into a 100-yen store in the near future to save his business.
According to reports from some Chinese businessmen engaged in the footwear business, Chinese shoes have always been welcomed by many consumers in the European market, because Chinese shoes are cheap, have many styles, and have a lot of room for selection. Compared with European leather shoes, It can be said to be practical and cheap. With the insistence of European Chinese businessmen, the wholesale and retail business of shoes has been booming.
However, since the economic crisis began in 2008, the footwear business once fell into a bottleneck state: it not only had to face the crisis of economic recession and reduced purchasing power, but also had to deal with the consumer trust crisis caused by “allergic shoes”. In this situation of two-sided attack, the footwear business run by Chinese businessmen was hit hard.
Some Chinese businessmen believe that through their persistence, the clothing, shoe and other businesses will see a watershed after the summer of 2009. A group of shops and merchants will be eliminated in the business world, and those who persist will reap the benefits of the economic crisis. 1 little bit of gold. Other Chinese businessmen also said that after all, the current environment has made them feel like they are walking on thin ice, and there may be closures one day. Therefore, while struggling to support their stores, these Chinese businessmen do not hold much confidence in this watershed. hope.
