Dear Friends,
We are living in unprecedented times. Never has the whole planet shut down for
business, with people huddled in fear. For us, everytime we see light at the end of the
tunnel, it only turns out to be an onrushing train.
Based on what we had decided in the previous year, we continued to close loss making
stores, while being very careful in opening new ones.
Little did we know that there were bigger plans than ours, in the universe. By the time
the biggest crowd puller to our stores, Valentine's Day came around, the effects of Covid
19 were already being felt across markets, with footfalls down at malls across the
country.
Our best quarter in terms of retail sales, turned ended badly, with the month of March
a non performer.
The first quarter of the current year, just about managed to open it's innings as
states across the country slowly unlocked themselves. Some sectors will see Zero Sales
even in the second quarter.
We have had to shut quite a few stores, which had become unviable due to lack of
footfalls in their areas.
Globally, retail that falls into discretionary spending, is struggling with stores
doing an average of 20% to 25% of their pre Covid 19 sales. People are just not going out
to shop. Our government just released figures where India's GDP has shrunk by almost 25%
in the Apr to Jun quarter.
We continue to tighten our belts, while planning for a post Covid Vaccine world, where
the fear of social interactions will no longer be there.
We can only hope, pray and plan for a brighter tomorrow and wish that everyone our our
stakeholders, customers, employees, vendors, stay safe and well.
Yours Truly
Anil Moolchandani
Chairman & Managing Director
Archies Limited