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, Penguin), Oxford Industries (Tommy Bahama, Southern Tide), VF Corporation (The North Face, Dickies), PVH Corporation (Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger), and Carter's (Carter's, OshKosh B'gosh).
Industry Forecast
Apparel Wholesalers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Jan 29, 2025 - Sales Up, Inventories Down
- Sales for apparel wholesalers in November 2024 were $13.4 billion, a 2.7% increase year over year but a 17.3% decrease month over month, according to the Census Bureau. Inventories for apparel wholesalers declined 8.2% in November 2024 compared to a year ago and fell 3.2% from the previous month. Producer inflation for apparel and piece goods merchant wholesalers increased 2.1% in December 2024 year over year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Industry employment fell 2.8% in November 2024 compared to a year ago while industry wages rose 1.2% during the same period. Average wages for nonsupervisory employees at apparel wholesalers were $25.68 per hour in November 2024, per the BLS.
- A new global luxury market forecast from McKinsey projects that apparel, including ready-to-wear and footwear, will grow between 2% and 4% between 2025 and 2027, according to Fashion Dive. The “State of Luxury: Fashion” report found that the US is expected to outpace other regions in luxury market growth, with the market expected to grow between 4% and 6% compared to lower projections for Europe and China. The personal luxury goods market, which includes fashion, leather goods, watches, and jewelry, has grown in recent years, with 5% growth each year between 2019 and 2023, mostly propelled by price increases.
- Apparel costs are expected to increase according to a new study by the National Retail Federation (NRF) of the estimated impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff proposals. The study looked at the effect of tariffs on prices of major consumer product categories including apparel, toys, furniture, household appliances, footwear and travel goods. Trump has proposed a universal 10-20% tariff on imports from all countries and an additional tax on imports from China. Per the NRF study, consumers would pay $13.9 billion to $24 billion more for apparel, $8.8 billion to $14.2 billion more for toys, $8.5 billion to $13.1 more for furniture, and $6.4 billion to $10.9 billion more for household appliances with the proposed tariffs in place. The study showed the tariffs would have a “significant and detrimental impact” on the costs of a wide range of consumer products, in particular those products supplied primarily by China.
- Apparel wholesalers will have to monitor minimum wage changes in 2025, as 21 states and 50 local jurisdictions increased their minimum wage levels, according to Chain Store Age. States with the highest minimum wage in the US are Washington ($16.66 per hour), California ($16.50), and New York ($16.50). Nearly 30 cities in California and seven towns in Washington will raise minimum wages in 2025, with Tukwila, Washington, offering the highest minimum hourly wage in the US at $21.10. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the minimum wage changes will affect more than $9 million workers and raise pay by a combined $5.7 billion. Unchanged since 2009, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and some 20 states, primarily located in the South and the Midwest, use the federal minimum as their wage floor.
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