Business

Sell, stow or dump? Retailers wrestle with mountain of unsold stock

Published

6 years ago

June 2, 2020

MADRID/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Forget fast or slow fashion, now it’s ground to a halt.

A mountain of apparel stock has been piling up in stores, distribution centers, warehouses and even shipping containers during months of COVID-19 lockdowns. As retailers reopen around the world, they have to work out how to get rid of it.

Their main options? Keep it in storage, hold a sale, offload it to “off-price” retailers like TJ Maxx which sell branded goods at deep discounts, or move it to online resale sites.

None are ideal, and all are damage-limitation.

Real estate company Knight Frank told Reuters it had fielded inquiries for excess stock for over 6 million square feet(557,500 square meters) of short-term let warehouse space in Britain since the pandemic took hold there in March.

Yet storage is only a realistic option for evergreen “basics” that are not tied to one particular year and could be sold at a later date should consumer demand bounce back – items like underwear, t-shirts, chinos and classic sneaker styles.

Apparel chains including British high-street retailer Next (NXT.L) and German sportswear brand Adidas (ADSGn.DE) said they had stashed away unsold basics, with the aim to offer them to shoppers next year instead.

But stowing away piles of inventory is risky.

“This is not like wine that gets better with age. Your inventory gets worse,” said Emanuel Chirico, chief executive of PVH Corp, which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, on a recent earnings call.

In the United States, clothing sales fell 89% in April from the same month in 2019, while in Britain clothing sales sank by 50% compared with an already-squeezed March.

Retailers hope that easing of lockdown measures will see shoppers return to stores, eager to unleash pent-up demand. But there is no guarantee that sales will rebound any time soon.

Dumping inventory

Many stores are likely to pursue a combination of holding sales as well selling stock to off-price retailers. The mix will depend on consumer appetite, how much merchandise stores have to shift and how fast they must free up space for new collections.

In-store discounts are usually a better option as dumping inventory in bulk to off-price players returns just pennies on the dollar for the retailers.

Off-price retail group TJX (TJX.N), which started opening its TJ Maxx and Marshalls stores this month, said in May there was “incredible availability” of stock on the market.

UK-based Parker Lane Group, which helps companies manage excess stock and advises on selling off-price, is processing at least double its usual volume of up to 1.5 million items of apparel per month, founder Raffy Kassardjian told Reuters.

“Some of our customers are waiting for retail to open up to gauge their performance before they make a commitment on how much stock they want to write off,” he said, referring to both selling at discount in-store and offloading to off-price.

‘Most insane sales’

Potentially more lucrative is moving merchandise to online re-sale marketplaces that take a commission on sales, although that option is largely only open for high-end brands.

California-based luxury re-sale marketplace Tradesy opened a new business unit in April to deal with the jump in brands looking to sell stock they were stuck with after department stores canceled wholesale orders, said CEO Tracy DiNunzio.

“A number of these brands are set to go live in the next couple of months,” she said, adding some may set up their own landing page on Tradesy while others would sell more discreetly.

Apparel was still the number-one category for spending cutbacks among U.S. consumers surveyed by Coresight Research on May 20. Non-essential retailers are set to reopen on June 8 in New York City and June 15 in Britain.

Even some shoppers are plotting a quick profit using re-sale websites.

“We’re going to see the most insane sales,” said Melissa McAvoy, founder of events company Luxury Experience & Co, who lives in the celebrity-studded Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas.

The 43-year-old said she planned to snap up merchandise at a discount, to then resell it at a higher price online at a site such as California-based Poshmark, which also makes money by taking a commission on sales.

“I’m going to get a tonne of stuff and either wear it once or put it on Poshmark,” she said.

Reporting and photo: Reuters

Business

Feydhoo Hall opens at dusitD2 Feydhoo Maldives as new event space

Published

4 days ago

February 16, 2026

m@ldives

Dusit International, one of Thailand’s leading hotel and property development companies, has announced the opening of Feydhoo Hall, a landmark event venue at dusitD2 Feydhoo Maldives, redefining the possibilities for meetings, celebrations, and destination events in the Maldives.

Designed to bring scale, flexibility, and creativity to island gatherings, Feydhoo Hall represents a bold step forward in positioning the Maldives as a dynamic destination for conferences, weddings, and large-scale social occasions.

Feydhoo Hall offers a versatile event complex designed to accommodate a wide range of gatherings, from corporate meetings and conferences to weddings and social celebrations.

At its core is the 390 sqm Main Hall, capable of hosting:

Up to 300 guests in theatre-style setup
Up to 240 guests for dining and banquet-style events
Up to 200 guests for cocktail-style receptions
Up to 144 guests in cluster-round configuration

Enhancing the flexibility of the venue are additional dedicated spaces, including:

A 110 sqm Veranda Terrace, ideal for welcome receptions, breakout sessions, and pre-event gatherings, accommodating up to 100 guests for cocktail-style events.
A spacious 1,000 sqm Lawn Space, perfect for large-scale outdoor celebrations, destination weddings, and open-air events, accommodating up to 400 guests for cocktail receptions and up to 350 guests for dining setups.
The 55 sqm Ekugai Meeting Room, designed for smaller meetings and executive sessions, accommodating up to 30 guests in theatre or dining setup and 24 guests in cluster-round format.

Together, these integrated spaces create a seamless indoor-outdoor event experience, allowing planners to design dynamic and personalised event journeys.

True to the dusitD2 brand’s lifestyle-driven philosophy, Feydhoo Hall introduces a fresh approach to meetings and events — where productivity meets creativity in an inspiring island setting.

The venue offers flexible meeting formats designed to suit different event needs, including:

Half-Day Meeting Package (4 hours) — ideal for focused sessions, executive meetings, and creative workshops.
Full-Day Meeting Package (8 hours) — designed for immersive conferences, extended workshops, and large-scale corporate gatherings.

These thoughtfully structured packages provide planners with the flexibility to create impactful and seamless experiences, whether hosting intimate strategy sessions or dynamic full-day events.

Located just seven minutes by speedboat from Velana International Airport, dusitD2 Feydhoo Maldives combines accessibility with vibrant lifestyle energy, offering event planners and guests a rare balance between convenience and tropical escape.

With the introduction of Feydhoo Hall, the resort strengthens its position as a versatile destination — not only for leisure travellers but also for international conferences, creative retreats, luxury weddings, and large-scale social celebrations seeking something refreshingly different in the Maldives.

Business

BBM expands retail presence with new Hulhumalé outlet

Published

5 days ago

February 16, 2026

m@ldives

Bestbuy Maldives (BBM) opened a new wholesale store in Hulhumalé Phase 2 on Monday.

The outlet is located on the ground floor of Lot 20286, Nirolhu Magu, and is intended to improve access to BBM’s imported goods for residents of Hulhumalé Phase 2 and for businesses operating in the area.

According to the company, the opening forms part of its plan to expand services closer to customers in line with population growth in Hulhumalé.

With the opening of the new store, BBM’s full range of imported and distributed products will be available at the Hulhumalé Phase 2 location. These include consumer goods from international brands such as Lifebuoy, Vaseline and Unilever.

The store will also stock wholesale food products from brands including Daily, Cavin’s and Redman.

BBM has supplied goods to resorts, hotels and retail outlets across the Maldives for several years.

Action

Ataraxis Grand & Spa hosts integrated work-and-dive corporate retreat in Fuvahmulah

Published

3 weeks ago

January 29, 2026

m@ldives

Ataraxis Grand & Spa recently hosted a week-long, closed corporate offsite in Fuvahmulah for a US-based artificial intelligence company, highlighting the island’s growing suitability for integrated work-and-experience retreats. The retreat brought a group of 36 international professionals to the property, which was reserved exclusively for the programme.

Designed as a private company offsite, the stay combined structured daily work sessions with guided diving and beginner-friendly surf experiences, creating a balanced format that blended focused collaboration with physical reset.

A notable component of the programme was dive training and certification. During the retreat, 17 participants completed their Open Water certification, while a further six undertook the Advanced Open Water course, with training and dives scheduled alongside work sessions as part of the integrated itinerary.

Throughout the week, participants worked on-site using dedicated shared spaces supported by reliable high-speed internet, allowing meetings, informal collaboration and scheduled activities to take place within a single, uninterrupted environment. This setup enabled teams to move seamlessly between work periods and organised ocean activities without leaving the property.

Fuvahmulah’s natural and operational advantages formed a key part of the retreat’s appeal. As one of the Maldives’ largest inhabited islands, it offers immediate access to pelagic dive sites, internationally recognised shark diving and surf breaks suitable for instruction, alongside the infrastructure required to support extended group stays.

The offsite reflects a growing preference among technology and knowledge-sector teams for small-scale retreats that prioritise concentrated work environments and team cohesion over traditional conference formats. Such programmes typically involve longer stays and higher per-capita spend, aligning with sustainable, quality-driven tourism models.

The retreat also demonstrates how locally operated properties such as Ataraxis Grand & Spa are supporting this shift by delivering unified environments where accommodation, workspaces, connectivity and curated experiences operate as a single programme rather than separate services.

As organisations continue to explore alternative formats for strategy sessions, team resets and creative offsites, Ataraxis Grand & Spa’s experience positions Fuvahmulah as an increasingly viable destination for integrated corporate retreats.

Ataraxis Grand & Spa offers work-and-dive retreat programmes in Fuvahmulah that combine accommodation, dedicated workspaces, high-speed connectivity and organised diving and surfing.