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Ministry of Supply Sold Office Apparel. It Has Had to Rethink Things.
The start-up had to decide what to do when its merchandise became virtually irrelevant during the pandemic. Revamping its focus was not easy, but the company has survived.
Gihan Amarasiriwardena, left, and Aman Advani, co-founders of Ministry of Supply.Credit.Tony Luong for The New York Times
Published March 4, 2021Updated March 9, 2021
Alison Hop, the vice president of commerce for the office apparel start-up Ministry of Supply, woke up on the morning of March 13, 2020, ready to help host a store reopening party that night in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood.
Dive Brief:
L.L. Bean has joined the athleisure trend with a collection of joggers, jackets, hoodies, footwear and other items.
The assortment includes newly introduced products as well as previously featured staples, according to the retailer s online product guide.
While total apparel sales declined 19% last year, sales of comfy cozy categories were up: sweatpants sales rose 17%, sleepwear 6% and sports bras 10%, according to a report from the NPD Group this month.
Dive Insight:
Many of the items in L.L. Bean s collection are familiar to its customers, and most if not all are typical from a retailer that has been all about outdoor activities and comfortable apparel for more than a century.
By The Associated Press
By March 23, Apple had lost $435 billion in market value in about five weeks and many of its retail outlets were shut as the virus pandemic walloped the global economy and stock markets. Meanwhile, a report issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 2% of small businesses surveyed had shut down permanently in March.
On Dec. 30, Apple’s stock market value totaled $2.29 trillion, up 133% since March 23. Meanwhile, Congress has approved nearly $300 billion in additional relief for small businesses, money that many hard-hit owners only hope can help them survive until the pandemic finally eases
The success of Apple and other big technology companies and the struggles of the smallest of businesses is just one example of how the pandemic created winners and losers in the business world in 2020. Wall Street recovered after March; Main Street is still struggling.
editorial@post-journal.com FILE – A traveler wears a mask as she waits for her flight in Terminal 3 at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020. The coronavirus pandemic created winners and losers in the business world. Wall Street recovered after March, even though Main Street is still struggling. As few people traveled, the airline industry needed billions of dollars in aid from the government and is still threatening to lay off workers.(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) FILE – In this Aug. 13, 2020 file photo, the logos for Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and Sling TV are pictured on a remote control in Portland, Ore. As movie theaters closed and lockdowns descended across the country, people turned to the ever-growing number of video streaming services for entertainment. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)