CONSUMER IS THE KING---GOVERNING ALL ASPECTS OF THE INDUSTRY:.
The sovereignty of consumer in this country is the single most governing factor for all that is happening in the industry. It controls how an importer negotitates apparel price with his vendor in the Orient all the way up to the hectic high-level trade negotiations between US and China. The consumer wants quality in upward direction and price in downward direction. Jack Morgan, a spokesman for the Arlington, VA based American Apparel Manufacturers Association (AAMA) says, "We've conditioned consumers in the US market to expect value, quality and low, low prices. That's not likely to go away anytime soon-. This eccentric perception of consumers in US that price and quality are inversely related as opposed to directly related has resulted in double digit growth rates for retailers offering low price and high quality for example Wal *Mart and Gap have experienced close to 20% growth rate for the last ten years. Discount retailers and importers are sourcing apparel from !.
all over the world following the principle "you call the quantity, I will call the price, quality and delivery-. And who can underestimate the importance of this consumer perception to the economy. As Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, Inc, the largest Home Improvement chain in the world aptly puts in his book Built from Scratch, " Sixty years ago, grocery stores, cut butter out of a tub. If you wanted a half a pound, they went in with a knife and cut it out, and we all paid for the butter and the labor. When supermarkets came along, butter was precut and pre-measured. It sold for much less because it could be made and delivered much more efficiently. Efficiency should give you lower prices. Lower prices should be better for the consumer. Whatever is better for the consumer is better for the economy- .
US APPAREL SOURCING---TRANSITION FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL:.
