Sales of Secondhand clothing are Down
Full clothes hangers and empty shops - the situation is the same in almost every second-hand store today. The coronavirus pandemic had the hardest impact on the sector of secondhand clothing.
Industry workers told BMG that sales of secondhand clothing were virtually kept to a minimum. Stores of secondhand clothing were closed during lockdowns and the sector could not switch to online sales.
"We have the worst situation. Before the pandemic, 80% of the products were sold to tourists. Now if people come in, they ask for a discount on even the cheapest clothes. We also had a loss due to the closure of winter resorts. Ski equipment and clothing remained unsold. There is no demand on European second-hand shoes any longer. We can no longer bring new products - there are neither financial resources nor free space in the warehouses, " Maguli Gobejishvili, a second-hand clothing trader told BMG.
Turkey, USA, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom are among the top importers of second-hand clothing in Georgia. In January-March of last year, a total of 1,655.2 tons of second-hand clothes were imported to Georgia from more than 10 countries, which was a decrease of 4.4% compared to the same period of 2019. As for the statistics for 2021, there are no data for Q1 yet, although according to employees in the sector, imports have fallen sharply.
