While clothes shopping peaks ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr, owners of apparel stores in Jordan expect otherwise due to the COVID pandemic.

"A massive catastrophe is approaching,” Tareq Abu Khalaf, an owner of a clothing store in Amman, told The Jordan Times over the phone.

"While summer brings higher sales each year, it is becoming very hard to meet these expectations during the pandemic,” Abu Khalaf said. He voiced pessimism when asked about the current state of "recession” in the clothing sector.

"This is the result of multiple factors,” said Abu Khalaf. "Fewer tourists and expatriates arrive on holidays, employees working from home no longer purchase suits, and the limitations on occasions and celebrations also minimise the consumers’ demand,” he said.

After Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Bisher Al Khasawneh issued Circular No. 26 of 2021, based on Defence Order No. 19 of 2020, on March 13, 2021, to close all businesses at 6pm and limit public movement at 7 pm, clothing stores have witnessed a major drop in sales.

This decision, made to curb the spread of COVID infections in the country, has been extended till May 15, 2021. During a press briefing on Monday, Minister of State for Media Affairs Sakher Dudin said that prime minister decided to extend the implementation of the current COVID-19 measures until May 15, which means that businesses will continue to close at 6pm and on Fridays including during Ramadan.

"The economic reality of the clothing sector is very harsh,” Munir Dayyeh, president of Jordan’s Textile and Readymade Clothes Syndicate told The Jordan Times.

"Since the beginning of lockdowns in 2020 until the current curfew today, we have suffered losses like we never had before. Sales have decreased by 90 per cent last year,” said Dayyeh. He added that around 500-600 clothing stores have closed since March last year.

"Forty-five per cent of clothing sales are during weekends, which have stopped completely now due to the early curfew and Friday lockdown,” he said.

Dayyeh called for taking decisions to support sectors suffering due to the pandemic, especially the clothing sector: "We urge the government to support the sector by helping traders with the challenges they face today, including the high cost of rent.”

In remarks to The Jordan Times, representative of the Clothes, Shoes and Jewellery Sector at the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, Asad Qawasmi noted that a major factor in the drop of sales of apparel is the diminishing purchasing power of the people as a result of harsh economic conditions brought by the pandemic. Qawasmi called for allowing shops to operate for longer hours, giving buyers more time to shop.