Barbara Bui: a 20.8% drop in revenue in 2015

By

Anaïs Lerévérend

Published
Mar 1, 2016

2015 was not a good vintage for Barbara Bui. After seeing its revenue decline by 5% in the 2014 fiscal year, the group closed the 2015 fiscal year on 31st December with a 20.8% shortfall. A setback which the top management explained with the highly troubled geopolitical situation, and the diminished store traffic in Paris following the terrorist attacks at the start and end of last year.

Revenue was calculated at €24.8 million, compared to €31.4 million in 2014. In detail, retail sales amounted to €10.1 million, equivalent to a 17.5% decrease. It was a very difficult year notably for the brand's four Paris stores, out of the eleven Barbara Bui operates worldwide.

Once again wholesale revenue had the lion's share, amounting to €14.7 million, though they fell by 22.9%. The brand's explanation for this was its prudent approach to trading on certain markets, chiefly in Eastern countries and a part of the Middle East.

The group's results included those of multi-brand stores Kabuki, which are however about to be closed down. The Kabuki concept was launched in 1983 by Barbara Bui and William Halimi in Paris' Etienne Marcel area, and operated up to three stores with a designer positioning (menswear, womenswear and accessories).

Kabuki went from two stores to only one in November 2015, and the last, located at 23 rue Etienne Marcel, is about to shut down too. It is not impossible that Kabuki will reopen again in the medium term, in an area with a more international, upmarket clientèle.

Even though the 2015 figures were disappointing, the Barbara Bui group stated it has already taken measures to limit the impact, notably on its cash management, of the drop in revenue.