Colder weather hits summer fashion sales at Best & Less

Mr Orrock told an investor briefing on Tuesday that the store had good inventory levels and was not facing disputes from shipping and supply chain disruptions that are causing problems for many industries.

“We are now in a good stock position,” he said.

Colder weather in Victoria and South Australia is a bigger near-term problem, with shoppers reluctant to spend on new summer outfits.

“Of course I’d like to see a little warmer weather for a summer outfit,” Orrock said.

“From Sydney down it’s still pretty chilly,” he said. The company made up about 40 percent of its first-half sales in November and December.

Best & Less announced a trading update to the ASX on Tuesday in which he stated that government-imposed lockdowns primarily in NSW, Victoria and New Zealand meant it had lost the equivalent of 27.5 percent of its total trading day across its brick and mortar network. The company will not meet the first half profit forecast for 2021-22 made in its prospectus.

For the year-to-date for 2021-22, the group’s total like-for-like sales fell 1.3 percent.

But between Aug. 23 and Nov. 14, like-for-like sales rose 5.6 percent as momentum picked up in the last few weeks of that period as lockdowns were lifted in Sydney, and then in Melbourne.

Mr Orrock said shoppers were increasingly using the click-and-grab option rather than buying online and hoped delivery would come on time as it gave them “more certainty”. Australia Post last month announced it would spend $400 million to increase capacity in its parcel operations, after a 32 percent jump in volume over the past two years.

Mr Orrock told the briefing that some landlords would like to see how the trade goes through the end of December before valuing the lease. He said Best & Less has paid some of the rent during the lockdown period. “We pay rent in part, we don’t pay all rent,” he said.