Over 50s more willing to shop with vaccines, says Mosaic brands

The company behind brands like Katies and Noni B says its seeing an interesting vaccine side effect among older shoppers.

Margaret Newman, Chris Hodgson and Terri Coleman at Noni B in Kin Kora in Queensland.

The COVID-19 vaccine is having an unusual side affect on older people: giving them the confidence to go out and shop.

Mosaic Brands, the fashion and apparel company behind retail stores such as Millers, Noni B, Katies and W. Lane, is witnessing a shift in the behaviour of its core older customer demographic as the roll out of vaccines for the over 50s is giving this shopping cohort the confidence to go out and shop.

In a trading update issued to the market late on Tuesday, Mosaic Brands said initially it feared the end of wage subsidies such as JobKeeper and other stimulus measures would see could shake the confidence of consumers, but that there had been an uplift thanks to the beginning of the vaccine program — especially to older consumers who have been among the first in the community to get the COVID-19 jab.

“At its half-year update group CEO Scott Evans said an absence of substantial or targeted stimulus payments, combined with ongoing lockdowns, had created a ‘mask economy’ across its loyal customers base who remained highly cautious and conservative in their purchasing behaviour,” said Mosaic Brands which operates more than 1,100 stores across a number of retail brands.

“As expected however, both the publicity and availability of vaccines to over 50s in recent weeks has seen a (significant) lift in trading nationally, inclusive of the Greater Sydney region where new health orders were implemented over part of Mosaic’s key Mother’s Day trading period.”

Mosaic Brands said this gave it further confidence to its expectation that momentum will continue to build on the back of the vaccine rollout and that the group will return to consistent profitability for fiscal 2022 and beyond.

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic last year Mosaic Brands warned it could shut up to 500 of its stores unless shopping centre landlords agreed to more competitive rents in the wake of shutdowns and a slump in foot traffic at centres. In August the women’s fashion chain, whose outlets include Katies, Autograph and Crossroads, was temporarily locked out of 129 of its stores by landlord Westfield over a rent dispute.

The retailer also was concerned its older shoppers would be hesitant to visit its stores, impacting sales, although the start of the vaccine roll out has generated a return to its stores and higher sales.

In the March quarter update Mosaic Brands said group cash balance of $48.6m was an 85.5 per cent improvement on the same time last year, while year to date cash inflow in operating activities of $76m was up 29.9 per cent. It said year to date finance facilities owing at the end of the quarter of $51.5m was a 32.2 per cent reduction against the prior year.