Apparel Wholesalers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 9,300 apparel wholesalers in the US act as middlemen between apparel manufacturers and retailers. They purchase apparel and accessories in large quantities from manufacturers and importers and resell them to retailers. Wholesalers often represent multiple apparel manufacturers and carry a variety of categories, brands, and styles. Some firms specialize in past season or overstock merchandise.
Trends, Fads, and Seasonality
The apparel market is driven by fashion trends and fads, which create uneven demand for wholesalers.
Complex Supply Chain
The apparel supply chain is long and complex, and typically involves numerous parties, many of which are located overseas.
Industry size & Structure
The average apparel wholesaler operates out of a single location, employs 16 workers, and generates about $16 million annually.
- The apparel wholesale industry consists of about 9,300 firms that employ 149,400 workers and generate about $150 billion annually.
- The apparel wholesale industry is somewhat concentrated; the top 50 companies account for 50% of industry revenue.
- Most domestic apparel companies (which are technically classified as apparel manufacturers) own or license brand names and outsource the majority of production to third-party manufacturers overseas. These apparel companies are often referred to as wholesalers because they sell apparel at wholesale to major accounts.
- Large apparel companies with wholesale operations include Perry Ellis (Perry Ellis, Munsingwear, Penguin), Oxford Industries (Tommy Bahama, Southern Tide), VF Corporation (The North Face, Dickies, JanSport, Easkpak), PVH Corporation (Calvin Klein, Izod, Olga, Warner's), and Carter's (Carter's, OshKosh B'gosh).
Industry Forecast
Apparel Wholesalers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Jul 25, 2024 - Industry Sales Increase
- Sales for apparel wholesalers in May 2024 were $12.8 billion, up 5.8% unadjusted year over year and up 4.8% unadjusted month over month, according to the Census Bureau. Producer inflation for apparel and piece goods merchant wholesalers mostly fell during the first five months of 2024, according to producer price data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Apparel wholesalers fell year to date through May 2024 while industry wages remained steady. Average wages for nonsupervisory employees at apparel wholesalers were $25.06 per hour in May 2024, per the BLS.
- US retailers are advancing their overseas orders to avoid potential shipping disruptions later in the year during peak shopping season, according to the Wall Street Journal. Import containers of clothing, furniture, and other products are arriving at US ports in much larger numbers than normal as companies try to manage higher freight rates, geopolitical tensions, and shipping delays. Import volumes at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports in June 2024 reached their strongest level since the pandemic-related heights of July 2022. In addition, container rates have reached levels not seen since the pandemic. The short-term contract rate to ship a container from Asia to the US West Coast on July 17 was $7,806, four times greater than last year, according to transportation analytics firm Xeneta. The WSJ report noted that the ratio of inventories to sales at US retailers increased to 1.31 in May 2024, the highest level since May 2020. Importers are counting on consumers to increase their spending in the second half of the year to avoid being stuck with excess inventories.
- US manufacturing activity contracted in June 2024 for the third consecutive month after a brief expansion in March, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The Manufacturing PMI registered 48.5% in June, down 0.2 percentage points from the 48.7% recorded in May. A reading above 50% indicates manufacturing expansion. Prior to the uptick in March, US manufacturing activity had fallen below the baseline for growth for 16 consecutive months. June’s New Orders Index was in the contraction zone at 49.3%. The June Production Index was 48.5%, a decrease from May’s 50.2%. Eight manufacturing industries tracked by the ISM reported growth in June: Printing & Related Support Activities; Petroleum & Coal Products; Primary Metals; Furniture & Related Products; Paper Products; Chemical Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; and Nonmetallic Mineral Products. The industries reporting contraction in June were Textile Mills; Machinery; Fabricated Metal Products; Wood Products; Transportation Equipment; Plastics & Rubber Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; and Computer & Electronic Products.
- A new bipartisan coalition has been launched to examine the impact of a trade rule known as the de minimis import loophole, according to Just Style. US textile and garment manufacturers say their industry is being negatively impacted by de minimis, which they say gives an advantage to foreign producers. The provision allows foreign companies to ship goods directly to US customers without paying tariffs if the goods are worth less than $800. The nearly-century-old rule has seen a significant increase in use in recent years. The number of packages entering the US without tariffs under the policy rose from 150 million in the 2016 fiscal year to 1 billion by 2023, according to the New York Times. Half of the packages contain textile and apparel products, with about 30% coming from Chinese fast-fashion retailers Shein and Temu, per the article. The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) supports eliminating the de minimis rule.
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