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Reuters
Prada SpA warned that its turnaround plan may take longer than expected as the Italian maker of $2,200 leather totes and $495 Velcro sandals struggles to keep up with rivals’ online expansion and stem a decline in sales.
First-half revenue dropped 5.7 percent as the strong euro cut into tourist spending in Europe in recent months, Milan-based Prada said. In New York, sales from a store on Fifth Avenue have been disrupted by demonstrators against President Donald Trump, Chief Executive Officer Patrizio Bertelli said.
Prada embarked on a wave of store closures in 2016 and has been trying to push e-commerce to gain more clients after profit fell to a five-year low. Prada was hit harder than most by a downturn in demand across Asia, where it gets about half its revenue. The company shuttered 13 stores in the first half, and opened six.
Prada’s new e-commerce site has gone live in the US and Europe, and the company plans to introduce it in other key markets including China by the end of 2017. Prada is also using social media to try to reach more consumers directly, and Bertelli said those moves should result in some improvement. Bertelli insisted that no change of creative direction is needed at the brand, which has been designed by Miuccia Prada since 1978.