Archive for February, 2007
Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisition of Fruit of the Loom and Russell Athletic has really set the cat amongst the pigeons. But who will be the winners, losers in this extremely competitive market.
At US based Sara Lee their Hanes operation was spun off. tha US based hosiery, underwear and major T-shirts suppliers was spun off from its parent company the Sara Lee Corp in September 2006. Since then sales at Hanes Brands have fallen by 6% from $685.2 million to $644.7 million. The company attributed the decline in part to decline in the sales underwear and T-shirts.
At Gildan the Canadian based T-shirt manufacturer sales in their first quarter which ended 31st Dec 2006 amounted to U.S. $185.8 million, up 54.4% on the first quarter of the previous year. The increase in sales was due to the acquisition of Kentucky Derby Hosiery a US based sock producer plus a 15.2% increase in unit sales volumes for activewear. The increase in sales was partially offset by a 4% reduction in selling prices for activewear which includes T-shirts, Polo-shirts and sweatshirts.
Gildan has continued to increase its market share within the US .According to S.T.A.R.S market share data Gildan has 46% market share on T-shirts and 36% market share on Fleece (sweatshirts).
In the UK the battle for market share can be clearly seen. Gildan has increased the number of distributors stocking their items for 2007. Distributor selling prices on Gildan are significantly lower than 2006. It looks like 2007 will be an interesting year.
February 28th, 2007
We will be exhibiting at UK’s premier exhibition for promotional clothing.
Come and say hello, pick up a brochure, free t-shirts and scratch cards to instantly win Ipods.
(There is no purchase necessary for our win an ipod competition).
We will be on the JHK Trader stand. (Stand number C52).
The exhibition is in hall 9 of the NEC in Birmingham
The exhibition is open
10.00 am - 5.00pm Sunday 4th March
10.00 am - 5.00pm Monday 5th March
10.00 am - 4.00 pm Tuesday 6th March
February 26th, 2007
How Long Does a Cheque take to clear.
There tends to be a commonly held misconception that once a cheque has been paid into a bank account and funds have been received that the cheque has cleared. Cheques currently take 3-4 days to clear. The funds can then be withdrawn but there is no certainty that the bank will not contact the account holder several days later to say that the cheque has been returned unpaid.
Despite this at www.polo-shirts.co.uk the vast majority of cheques are processed on the same day they are received, so that there is no delay in getting orders dispatched. We do this by using Transax’s automated system to clear cheques. Personal cheques need to have the guarantee card number written on the back of the cheque.
Occasionally Transax will not be able to clear a cheque immediately. In this case
- Customers can contact Transax directly and confirm the transaction details.
- We have to wait 10 working days for the cheque to clear.
February 21st, 2007
I received this response from one of our customers.
Q. Would you consider selling fair trade t shirts - I was originally looking for some, but they were way too expensive. If you had been offering fair trade t-shirts for £2.50 (bulk) I would have bought them.
A. We here at Quayside Group are committed to supplying goods only from companies that share our commitment to high standards of business ethics.
We wholly support the need for Fair Trade in the worlds poorest countries.
We are aware that the consumer of the day is interested in more than just saving a few pennies but in the political, economic and environmental effect that the manufacturing of clothing has.
With this in mind we have recently introduced a range of Organic T-Shirts by Continental.
As well as being made from cotton that is grown without the need of harmful bleaches or chemicals they are also produced in accordance with the Fair Wear Foundation conditions.
The fair wear foundation aims to promote humane labour conditions in the garment industry.
To find out more visit http://www.polo-shirts.co.uk/Organic+Clothing
February 7th, 2007
Q. There is a postal surcharge for delivering to my address (PA24 xxx). I live in mainland Argyll just 50 minutes drive from Glasgow Airport. Why am I charged £10 for delivery?
A. Our courier company charges us extra for crossing a body of water. So if you live in the Scilly Isles, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man etc…we are charged over 3 times as much to send you your clothes.
At present our system charges you based on the first two letters of your postcode.
We do understand that people who live, for example, in the Paisley (PA) postcode area are on the UK mainland but other parts of the PA postcode are such as Islay & Jura.
If you do live in one of our flagged postcodes we send your goods by Royal Mail. Royal Mail can charge up to £14 for a 20 kilo parcel. We only charge £10 regardless of how many garments you buy and regardless of the weight of the goods.
We hoping to improve our postal code recognition system very shortly so that if you do live on the mainland you will only be charged our standard postage rate of £5.00.
February 7th, 2007
Here I try to answer a few questions posed by our customers.
Q. Bit disappointed in your ‘no swapping’ policy. To charge the postage again just to change one shirt size is a little extortionate.
A. I understand the frustration that can be caused when you select one wrong item and just want to swap it for another. It sounds simple. But for us it’s not that simple and I’ll try to explain why.
Your returned item takes time to process.
The goods need to be quality checked and returned to stock.
Then our warehouse staff need to pick and replace the item with the replacement which takes time.
The goods then need to be sent out again so we need to add on the postage cost.
Our standard postage rate of £5.00 also includes the cost of packing. This not only means the postage cost itself but also the poly bags in which the garments are packed, the delivery bags, delivery stickers and, as mentioned above, the time of our warehouse staff.
Unlike other companies in the wholesale clothing industry charge a restocking fee for returning items. Polo-shirts.co.uk do not charge a restocking fee.
I hope that this explains why we aren’t able to offer a “swap” for your returned items.
February 7th, 2007
