Work From Home Forces 95-Year Old Raymond To Fire Employees, Reduce Expenses: Find Out Why?

Raymond Ltd, the Indian fabric and fashion retailer, is decreasing its expenses in areas like marketing, jobs, and rent as more than one-third of its workforce is working from home due to the COVID-19 resultant lockdown.

Read on to find out more…

COVID-19 Lockdowns Have Slammed The Clothing Business!

India went into a nationwide lockdown on March 25 to curb the spread of the coronavirus. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shut the offline business and engagement and shifted prominently online. This has had a negative impact on the clothing business not only in India but worldwide.

Raymond, founded in 1925, saw its shares suffer the biggest loss among global peers this year as the pandemic worsened.

Amidst the pandemic, the New-York based, Brooks Brothers Group Inc., founded in 1818 has gone bankrupt. 

What Does Raymond Plan On Doing To Weather the COVID-19 Storm?

The Mumbai-based company has resorted to costing cutting of upto 35% for FY 2020-2021

The company’s Chairman Gautam Hari Singhania said in a virtual interview last week that the company has also sought to freeze loan repayments under a one-time program offered by the central bank.

Sighania said, “Raymond has taken this as an opportunity to re-set.” He added, “What we know is this is a crisis and we will stand strong.”

According to Raymond’s annual report, the company has also postponed all of its capital expenditure that was planned for this year such as store openings, renovations and technology upgrades.

Currently, Raymond, at its Bengaluru factory, is manufacturing personal protective equipment for health workers. 

Singhania said, “When you are a strong brand, recession always plays in your favor.” 

On Brooks Brothers’ bankruptcy, he said, “Brooks Brothers provides a very specific and formal range of clothing, unlike us, so it doesn’t bother us much.”

Raymond offers a range of products unlike bespoke suit makers he competes with in other parts of the world, said Singhania. 

Will identification and abolition of unnecessary expenditures be the lesson of the COVID-19 pandemic and the new norm in the post-COVID-19 world?