The American group Levi Strauss said Tuesday that sales of its iconic Levi's jeans had dropped 62% at the height of containment, prompting the group to lay off 15% of its office staff, or 700 people. The decline in turnover to $ 498 million over the three months ending at the end of May "is mainly linked to the temporary closure of stores managed by the group and by third parties due to the Covid-19 pandemic" , explains the company in a press release. The 25% increase in online sales has certainly helped limit breakage, but they still represent only 15% of Levi Strauss' revenues.
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The group, which suffered a net loss of $ 364 million over the period, has decided to lay off about 700 people by the end of the year, which should save it about $ 100 million per year. . Levi Strauss wants to be optimistic, however, stressing that around 90% of its own stores were now reopened, as well as the majority of establishments managed by franchisees.
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Sales and the number of customers remain lower than last year, but turnover improved every week at the end of June and online sales continued to grow strongly. "The overall health and economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic remains very uncertain," warns the company, however, which expects its activity to remain "severely affected at least until the end of 2020".