One of the first apparel retailers to head overseas from China in the 1990s.
FORBES: 25 Influential Chinese In Global Fashion -- 2010 (Full List)
The specialty apparel retailers in US are now moving towards emerging markets in Asia.
This should set off alarm bells in the heads of most apparel retailers and brands.
Apparel retailers, however, face potential threats to their reputation just about anywhere they turn for their wares.
Shrinking gross margins have been the biggest source of concern among apparel retailers since last three quarters.
Higher cotton costs have been reported as a headwind by several apparel retailers already in the first quarter.
FORBES: Retail Sales Rose In March As Inflation Fears Emerge For Food, Gas Prices
The profitability of apparel retailers depends largely on their ability to correctly gauge fashion trends in each season.
The apparel retailers have come under immense pressure to reduce overhead costs as the industry faces high commodity costs.
Cotton is a key input material for apparel retailers like Aeropostale and its sudden increase has led to margin compression.
China, the second largest apparel market in the world, has proved to be an important market for some western apparel retailers.
With cotton prices having more than doubled over the past year, apparel retailers will need to increase prices for the spring merchandise.
While retail sales have remained a source of concern for most apparel retailers in 2011, e-commerce has been a major growth driver for the apparel sector.
FORBES: Holiday Shopping Nirvana Smells Like Teen Retail Rally
Cambodia has benefited in recent years from rising factory wages in China that have pushed some apparel retailers to look for cheaper places to source their products.
With the sluggishness in economy considered to be a long term effect, the apparel retailers cannot trust on revamp of economy on which they were relying initially.
The holiday season kicked off with online shopping leading the way and apparel retailers such as Urban Outfitters will look to make the most of it.
FORBES: Urban Outfitters Rings In Holiday Web Sales With Festive Offerings, Edgy Catalogs
Urban Outfitters delivers products closer to the season for which they are intended, and they have one of the most profitable online markets among teen apparel retailers, Sozzi added.
Unless cotton prices fall, many of the apparel retailers in the U.S. are expected to pass the increased cotton costs on to consumers in the form of higher retail prices.
Apparel retailers have been led by the high-low strength factors of luxury shoppers and those shoppers who are looking for bargains, as the middle-class earners keep their wallets closed for non-essential items.
FORBES: October Retail Sales Gain, But Fall Under Expectations
The performance is noteworthy in a back-to-school season that has been a mixed bag for teen apparel retailers, some of which have struggled with lackluster merchandise choices in their efforts to stimulate traffic.
If Melissa Adelman's hunch is right, this will be the last January apparel retailers will have to brace for the swarm of customers looking to return or exchange all the ill-fitting clothes they got for Christmas.
"Reebok has sought to take advantage of this unique, short-lived opportunity by supplying, without authorization or license, Tebow-identified New York Jets apparel to retailers in New York and elsewhere around the country, " the lawsuit said.
Devine expects pricing pressure on apparel importers and retailers to continue at least through the fall.
The same can be said for apparel houses and retailers of all stripes, but one thing going for Guess? is its cheapness relative to what the market is willing to pay for similar companies.
Labor and human-rights groups have been calling on apparel brands and retailers to sign on to the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement, which would establish a system of independent factory inspections whose recommendations would be binding.
Gadgets and gizmos may entice teenagers more than apparel, and electronic retailers like Best Buy are anticipating respectable results for fiscal 2011.
Conversely, retailers sourcing apparel in the Far East are winners.
But with consumers so used to paying so little, retailers and apparel manufacturers are reluctant to raise prices and have become even more eager to find low-cost countries to produce their goods in, economists say.
No surprise, Wal-mart, Target, Old Navy and Gap are all large retailers of baby apparel.
These stocks include retailers, team owners, apparel makers and others that are connected to the sports world.
"They should be using their market power and coordinating with other retailers, to move the entire apparel industry upwards in Bangladesh, " he said.
应用推荐