David Birnbaum's Blog http://www.birnbaumgarment.com Something to Consider Tue, 15 May 2012 11:08:21 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Strategies to succeed in a period of Industrial Decline V: The Road to Failure — The Problem with GAP Success for the retailer is a triad:  Customer – Product – Value

Select your customer.

Provide the products your customer wants;

in an environment and at a price your customer considers reasonable.

GAP: THE GOOD TIMES:

At the close of… Read More

]]> http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/2012/05/15/strategies-to-succeed-in-a-period-of-industrial-decline-v-the-road-to-failure-%e2%80%94-the-problem-with-gap/ China and Its Place in a Changing U.S. Market II: PRODUCT Much has been written about the underlying causes of China garment export declines.  Garment industry specialists and economists point to macro-economic factors, such as currency revaluation, rising labor costs and labor shortages as well as trade subsidies and inflation, just… Read More

]]> http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/2012/05/09/china-and-its-place-in-a-changing-u-s-market-ii-product/ TPP Free Trade Agreement for Garments: Plan B For over 20 years all negotiations for U.S. garment related free trade agreements have been governed by 2 assumptions.

1.    Without the support of the textile industry, the U.S.  Congress  will reject any proposed garment free trade agreement.

As a… Read More

]]> http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/2012/05/03/tpp-free-trade-agreement-for-garments-plan-b/ China and Its Place in a Changing U.S. Garment Import Market 2011 brought wrenching change to the U.S. market.  From June through December unit imports declined every single month, as retailers drastically reduced inventories.

U.S. Imports All Garments Monthly Data

… Read More

]]> http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/2012/04/10/394/ Strategies to succeed in a period of Industrial Decline IV: The Road to Failure — The Supplier The first rule of business: You succeed by meeting the needs of your customers.  The successful supplier understands the needs of his customer and develops skill sets to meet those needs. This is true of garment retailers and brand importers… Read More

]]> http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/2012/03/18/strategies-to-succeed-in-a-period-of-industrial-decline-iv-the-road-to-failure-%e2%80%94-the-supplier/ Strategies to succeed in a period of Industrial Decline III: The Road to Failure — The Customer Side With the possible exception of Italian restaurants, the garment industry has the highest bankruptcy rate of all commercial endeavors.

Clothing stores open and close, at a mind boggling rate. New fashion labels appear only to disappear almost instantaneously. People filled… Read More

]]> http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/2012/03/10/strategies-to-succeed-in-a-period-of-industrial-decline-iii-the-road-to-failure-%e2%80%94-the-customer-side/ Strategies to Succeed In a Period of Industrial Decline II: Determining the Right Strategy In the global garment industry, all private sector strategies have but a single goal:  To Increase Profit.

There are three interrelated means to reach this goal

Operational; e.g., Reduce costs

Marketing;  e.g.,   Increase sales

Mixed; e.g., Increase margins

The range… Read More

]]> http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/2012/01/29/strategies-to-succeed-in-a-period-of-industrial-decline-ii-determining-the-right-strategy/ The Chinese Puzzle 2011 was the worst garment-export year for China  in a decade.  As of the 10 months ending 31 November 2011, China’s U.S. market share as measured both in units and by value was down over 4% compared with the same… Read More

]]> http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/2012/01/14/the-chinese-puzzle/ Strategies to Succeed in a Period of Industry Decline I: The Search for Competence For most of the past fifty years, the garment factory existed solely to make the product.  The customer specified the quality, the delivery and the price.  Of these quality and delivery were both fixed.  If your factory was unable to… Read More

]]> http://www.birnbaumgarment.com/2012/01/03/memo-to-the-global-garment-export-industry-rehow-your-factory-or-mill-can-succeed-in-period-of-industry-decline/ Supporting the EURO: The China Side Imagine you are a senior Chinese official; a member of the Politburo responsible for among other things, international finance.

The EU has come calling, begging bowl in hand, to persuade you to lend them money to keep the EURO afloat. … Read More

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