Thobe sales decline by 20%

Indicators show that the Japanese-textile thobe continues its lead by at least 70 percent due to its combination of reasonable price and quality. (AP)

JEDDAH: Mohammed Al-Shahri, chairman of the textile and clothing committee in Jeddah, stressed a clear decline in the purchase and sale of the Saudi thobe this year during Ramadan, by a minimum of 20 percent. He explained that the reason behind this is the domestic economy as well as lifestyle changes in clothing and habits of the new generation.
“Indicators show that the Japanese-textile thobe continues its lead by at least 70 percent due to its combination of reasonable price and quality; the European- and Korean- fabric thobes come after,” he said. He stressed that the sales of ready-made and custom-made clothes during Ramadan recorded a total sales volume of between SR900 million and SR1 billion, with the sale rate in the Makkah region reaching 16 percent.
“There is no significant increase in clothing prices this year because the price usually depends on several factors, the most important of which is the shop location and the cost of the rent. It is unreasonable to expect an equality of prices between stores in the city and stores in the popular market.” He noted that custom-made clothing prices are between SR50 and SR150 without the price of the fabric and sewing costs, and the cost of sewing is between SR50 and SR400.
Louay Naseem, president of the governing council of Lomar, estimated the percentage decline in sales this year was 30 percent because of customers’ reticence to buy as a result of inflation in prices, which has made the consumer restructure his priorities this year.
He added: “This year, not less than 50 percent of the customers buy workers’ clothing more than the custom-made or the decorative clothing, beside the custom made dress.