Don’t know if this helps, but I have about and few friends that own factories in china that supply clothing wholesale. Some are hurting some are not.
Friend #1 supplies to discount stores (cheap stuff) like to Walmart, Dress Barn, Ross, Mervin’s etc. While he did pretty well over the years, he’s mentioned that in this downturn, it’s taking hit, as several of these retailers are going under. He had orders filled and holding company’s deposits, and now figuring out what to do with all the excess inventory.
Friend #2, on the other hand, supplies children clothing to children’s speciality chain stores (can’t name names) since it’s one of the bigger labels. While sales appear lower, it’s holding up pretty well. Seems like despite the downturn, people are still willing to spend money on kids.
Seems from their discussions this is completely a relationship business on who you know all the up and down from the buyers to the suppliers.
Don’t know about the uniform business, it seems like a niche market. In this space, you probably have to play in a niche market to survive in retail (and need to play in the correct niche market).
