This industry comprises wholesale distributors of women's, children's, and infants' clothing and accessories. Products of the industry include blouses, dresses, skirts, sportswear, unisex clothing, underwear, lingerie, hosiery, outerwear, hats, handbags, ladies' handkerchiefs, gloves, and mittens. Wholesale distributors of baby goods and diapers and distributors of hospital gowns are also included. Wholesalers engaged in the distribution of women's, children's, and infants' footwear, however, are classified under SIC 5139: Footwear.
422330 (Women's, Children's and Infants' Clothing and Accessories Wholesalers)
Approximately 7,583 establishments were engaged in this industry in 2001. Their estimated combined sales totaled $13.8 billion, down from nearly $16.2 billion from 2000 U.S. Census Bureau data. Additionally, this industry employed more than 79,595 workers in the mid 2000s. In 2003, there were 9,751 establishments, with total annual sales of $21.3 billion. The average sales per establishment was $2.5 million. The highest number of establishments were concentrated in California, which had 2,774, and New York, with 2,549.
Much of the industry's activity was centered in New York and California. Combined, these two states accounted for 54.5 percent of the number of industry establishments and employed some 44,720 people.
According to several U.S. business publications including Forbes, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was the impetus behind a massive shift of U.S. garment production from Asia to Mexico. Half of the apparel sold in the United States was imported from other countries and, after the 1994 NAFTA agreement, apparel exports from Mexico grew to $3.3 billion. In early 1997, Mexico was the highest U.S. source of imported apparel. Sent to Mexico mainly in the form of cut pieces to be sewn, U.S. apparel exports almost doubled to about $2.5 billion a year after NAFTA. The change in production from Asia to Mexico helped lower U.S. clothing costs between 1994 and 1997.
The retail industry remained focused on The World Trade Organization deadline when quotas on almost all textiles and apparel would be eliminated in January of 2005. With ongoing price pressure and demands to reduce operating costs it may be likely that more U.S. clothing would be outsourced to China.
One of the largest industry establishments was Nitches, Inc., formerly known as Beeba's, Inc. The company began operation as a women's sportswear wholesaler in 1973 and imported finished garments, primarily all-cotton and cotton-blend items, from approximately 20 countries and resold them to retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; Mervyn's; The Limited Stores, Inc.; J.C. Penney Company, Inc.; and Target Stores, Inc. In 1996, Nitches reported that it competed "on a basis of price, quality, reliability of service and fashion focus," with experience in handling a variety of women's, children's, maternity, and plus-size apparel.
In 1996, the California-based Nitches imported finished garments from 15 foreign countries and continued a policy of seeking national diversity in its arrangements with manufacturers. Nitches reported sales of $31.5 million in 1999. The company had 40 full-time employees during 1999, which was down approximately 50 percent from the mid-1990s. This decline in the number of employees followed a trend that Occupational Outlook Quarterly predicted would continue in the apparel industry beyond the year 2000. Nitches reported sales of $28.4 million for fiscal 2003, down slightly from $29.5 million in 2002.
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U.S. Census Bureau. Current Industrial Reports, August 2003. Available from http://www.census.gov/cir/www/index.html .
——. Statistics of U.S. Businesses 2001. Available from http://www.census.gov/epcd/susb/2001/US421420.HTM .
U.S. Department of Commerce. Economics and Statistics Administration. 1997 Economic Census-Wholesale Trade. Washington, D.C.: GPO, March 2000. Available from http://www.census.gov .
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