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
Nov 20, 2024 - Inflation, Employment Down
- Producer inflation for apparel and piece goods merchant wholesalers fell nearly 3% in September 2024 year over year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Apparel wholesalers employment fell 3.1% in September 2024 compared to a year ago while industry wages fell nearly 2% during the same period. Average wages for nonsupervisory employees at apparel wholesalers were $25.50 per hour in September 2024, per the BLS. Consumer prices for apparel were 0.3% higher in October 2024 compared to the previous year, according to the Consumer Price Index. Prices for the category were down 1.7% from the previous month. Sales for apparel wholesalers in July 2024 were $13 billion, a 10.6% increase year over year and 13.7% growth month over month, according to the Census Bureau.
- Apparel costs are expected to increase according to a new study by the National Retail Federation (NRF) of the estimated impact of president-elect 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.
- According to a mid-year analysis from Just Style, US fashion companies are increasingly sourcing apparel from India, Cambodia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Guatemala, which all gained additional market share in the first half of 2024 compared to a year ago. Dr. Sheng Lu, a professor of apparel studies at the University of Delaware, said there are several reasons the countries are gaining new momentum as emerging sourcing destinations. “In addition to production capacity, these countries seem to benefit from their perceived relatively lower social and environmental compliance risks and lesser involvement in geopolitical tensions at this moment,” he said. In the first half of the year, China accounted for 33.2% of US apparel imports, Vietnam accounted for 16.7%, and Bangladesh accounted for 9.6%. Year over year during the period, China and Vietnam increased share while Bangladesh lost share, which Lu said pointed to stronger demand for more personalized, customized, and value-added items.
- 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.
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