Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
In the run-up to the start of the new academic year, some families have turned to online community groups offering second-hand items of school uniform at a fraction of the cost.
Bronwyn Byrnes, from Australia, said her children would be going back to school in used, sanitised uniforms this year.
“I am a big advocate of recycling and I’ll be buying their uniforms from Facebook groups,” she said.
I also got a friend of mine to bring some socks and shirts from India, which cost me half the amount I would have had to pay here
“I know some parents who deliberately bought less this year as school restarts because they predicted some campuses would only operate at 50 per cent.”
The mother-of-two, who lives in Dubai, used to run a second-hand uniform shop at her children's previous school for more than three years. At their old campus, most items would sell for Dh10 or Dh20.
"Normally, a shirt can retail at about Dh80 to Dh120," she said. "One of the blazers we sold at the shop was priced at just Dh75 as opposed to about Dh450."
Like many private schools, hers stipulated that clothes must be sourced from an approved retailer.
Prices at uniform suppliers, including Stitches, Magrudy’s and Zaks, vary across the country depending on size, item and school, but parents often pay anywhere between Dh75 to Dh450 a piece for shirts, blouses, blazers and trousers.
As schools reopen, education authorities have been mulling a staggered return to campuses and reduced class sizes.
Neha Jain, who has a daughter in Grade 2 at Delhi Private School, said her child would be going back full-time.
"She has already outgrown some of the uniform we bought last year so we had to get her a new sports kit from Zayn fashion, which was a lot cheaper than the school store," she said.
"I also got a friend of mine to bring some socks and shirts from India."
She said a uniform set, which includes a shirt and tunic, usually costs about Dh60 in Dubai but, from India, it cost just Dh25.
"I just got the new revised price from the school shop too. One set is approximately Dh85 now," she said.
Abdul Sharef, father of two, said said he had to buy direct from the school supplier.
"For the past two years we have had to buy the uniforms from a third party as instructed by the school," he said.
"To buy pants, a few shirts and a tie we usually spend about Dh400, not including shoes."
Last year, the Ministry of Education introduced a standardised line of uniforms for government school pupils to reduce the financial burden on parents.
The range of attire, available at more than 80 shops in the Emirates was a lot cheaper than private school uniforms, with pieces ranging from Dh25 to Dh139.
Estée Caplen, from the admissions and enrolment department at Al Raha International School in Abu Dhabi, said its second-hand uniform shop was temporarily closed as per government regulations due to Covid-19.
And at Dubai College, Debra Turpie from the alumni relations team, said its parent group, Friends of Dubai College, co-ordinated and sold second-hand uniforms.
"This service is usually offered at parent evenings and other school events, however, at the current time it is being co-ordinated through their Facebook page."
Budget-friendly tips for buying school uniforms
Wash right:
How you wash and dry clothes is key to making them last longer. Fabrics behave in different ways when being washed, ironed or dried so always follow the care instructions carefully. Use a gentle detergent and avoid using a tumble dryer as much as possible.
Alter when needed:
A lost button or unfurled hem doesn’t mean a uniform has to be destined for the bin. If it can be easily fixed then try and save it. You can try repairing a shirt or skirt at home or take it to a local tailor. And if an item is too small or big, you can always take up or let down a hem to get more miles out of it.
Check your school parent association:
For the money-conscious parent, most schools do have second-hand uniforms for sale. Covid-19 has put a stop to physical sales in most schools this summer but check with your school’s parent group as many sales and swaps are happening online.
A look inside a Dubai school's Covid-19 safety measures:
CREW
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European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Racecard:
2.30pm: Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoun Emirates Breeders Society Challenge; Conditions (PA); Dh40,000; 1,600m
3pm: Handicap; Dh80,000; 1,800m
3.30pm: Jebel Ali Mile Prep Rated Conditions; Dh110,000; 1,600m
4pm: Handicap; Dh95,000; 1,950m
4.30pm: Maiden; Dh65,000; 1,400m
5pm: Handicap; Dh85,000; 1,200m
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 3
Fleck 19, Mousset 52, McBurnie 90
Manchester United 3
Williams 72, Greenwood 77, Rashford 79
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
