A zombie well before the pandemic, the UK company had racked up huge debts to finance rapid growth in a sector that had started shrinking some time ago.
Owner of a small cafe that specializes in fine cakes and sandwiches tells me: “We’ll be lucky if we get half the normal number in July and August.” It’s now “all about damage control.”
“People do not buy a new outfit to stay at home.” Sales at stores that have reopened languish while ecommerce is booming. McKinsey: up to a third of global fashion retailers will not survive the crisis.
“Consideration may need to be given” to bailouts from taxpayers “to meet solvency or liquidity requirements,” but only “at the extreme end,” whatever that means.