The revolution that has swept the food industry is now extending to retail: the origins of products matter. Growing Consumer Demand for Accountability fairade and organic fruit becoming standard in grocery stores, consumers concerned about working conditions, environmental issues, and outsourcing are increasingly demanding similar accountability for clothing. The urgency of this issue was amplified […]
Hatfield, PA (PRWEB) June 10, 2013
K’NEX Brands, the US construction toy company focused on Building Worlds Kids Love®, is pleased to introduce four new additions to its K’NEX Building Sets line. These K’NEX Building Sets contain 100% made in the USA bricks, rods and connectors that invite children of all ages to imagine, build and play!
K’NEX Building Sets: Extreme Sports
Cool extreme sports builds will capture young builders’ imaginations. The Extreme Sports building set features 10 building ideas including a hang glider, jet skier, sky diver, sport bike rider and more. Build your own daring stunt man complete with the included helmet-head and then create an action-packed stunt of your own imagination for him to complete. Set also features full-color instructions and 250+ Classic K’NEX pieces including made in the USA rods & connectors. Suggested retail price is $17.99. Ages 7+. Available Fall 2013.
K’NEX Building Set: Amusement Park Series Assortment-Space
Collect & build 3 space themed rides with the new Amusement Park Series assortment. Choose from the Star Shooter Coaster, Amazin’ 8 Coaster, or the Super Sonic Swirl. All three rides are motorized for exciting realistic performance. Each amusement park ride comes with over 400 parts including made in the USA rods & connectors. Collect & build them all and create your own amusement park—right in your living room. Each sold separately. Suggested retail price is $29.99. Ages 7+. Available Fall 2013.
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Small American flags are displayed April 11 at the My Made in America Store in Gillette. All of the products sold from the store are 100 percent made in America. The store opened in November 2012 after owners Rod and Susan Mathis had conceptualized it earlier in the year. Rod came up with the idea after visiting a boot shop where he requested a shoe made 100 percent in America and had trouble finding the right kind.
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Store owners Rod and Susan Mathis, owners of My Made in America Store in Gillette, ordered American flags from Annin Flagmakers of Roseland, N.J. But Rod had to send back some of the poles because they were outsourced to a foreign country. He now sells poles from EZPole Flagpoles of Eastlake, Ohio. They ordered cast iron cookware from Lodge Manufacturing Co. of South Pittsburg, Tenn. But Rod had to send some glass lids back because they were made in China. He also cannot sell the company’s cookbook because it’s printed outside the United States. Rod Mathis has discovered labels can be deceiving. Companies will list products as made in the United States when sometimes nearly half of the product was made elsewhere. For instance, he planned to sell mugs with logos for each branch of the U.S. military. But he had to give up the idea when he learned that, while the mugs were made in the United States, the logos were going to be made elsewhere. |
Rod Mathis poses April 11 in front of a 100 percent cotton, 100 percent made-in-America flag at the My Made in America Store he co-owns with his wife, Susan, in Gillette. All of the products sold from the store are 100 percent American-made. The store opened in November 2012 after Rod and Susan had conceptualized it earlier in the year. Rod came up with the idea after visiting a boot shop where he requested a shoe made in America and had trouble finding the right kind. PHOTO CREDIT: Leah Mills/Star Tribune
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Sometimes, buying American-made can be more expensive. After all, labor costs are higher in the United States than in China. But Rod held up an Annin flag and showed the quality. The materials were heavier. He believes the flag is worth the value.
“It’s hard to find an American-made flag,” he said.
The store is a place where you can find items of all kinds — including patriotic gear such as American flags, prisoner of war “Never Forgotten” wall hangings, fierce-looking eagles stitched on clothing, organic soap and raw honey.
Appealing to the camo-wearing biker daddy with some stuff for the earth goddess and people in between, Rod and Susan Mathis named their store for the obvious demographic: Shoppers who want to buy goods made in the United States.
“People are unemployed,” Mathis said. “Yet we’re buying stuff made in China.”
It’s not easy to find products made in the United States anymore. It’s even harder to stock a 900-square-foot retail space with solely U.S.-made goods, Mathis said.
Shoppers who want to support local businesses will find baskets and silvery jewelry made in Upton, wall art made in Moorcroft and Cheyenne, coffee tables from Hulett, soaps and lip balms from Douglas, tissue-box holders made in Gillette.
Five percent of the store’s profits will go in an account to assist wounded veterans, Rod said.
Military veterans receive a 10 percent discount at the store.
Recently, when the Star-Tribune visited the store, no one stopped by. But business is “good when they can find us,” Rod Mathis said. They’re located in a building at 203 Carey Ave., Suite 3, where Rod, who also owns Gillette-based D&P Electric, did electrical work in exchange for three months of free rent.
“We’re not quite six months into it,” he said. “It’s an experiment still.”
LightSaver executives no longer spend hours on the phone with China | Photograph by Michael Schmelling for Bloomberg Businessweek
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U.S. production lets Pigtronix more extensively test its guitar pedals | Photograph by William Mebane for Bloomberg Businessweek
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But many companies are stepping gingerly, avoiding sweeping claims and spelling out what “Made in the U.S.A.” means for their products. Consumers are more shrewd about how few consumer goods actually are made in the United States, leaving companies less wiggle room about the origin of products.
The Whirlpool Corporation, for example, specified in full-page print advertisements this year that 80 percent of its appliances “sold in the U.S. come from our U.S. factories.” Despite its deep American roots, the 101-year-old company — which makes Maytag, Amana, KitchenAid and Jenn-Air products — has, like other corporate giants, moved some manufacturing abroad.
As a result of its centennial celebrations last year, some consumers have urged the company to talk more about its American origins, said William Beck, a senior marketing director at Whirlpool, which spent $57.4 million in 2011 on advertising, according to Kantar Media, a WPP unit.
In recent months, the appliance giant has been underlining its American factories, and noting in its overall brand advertising that it employs about 22,000 workers (15,000 of them at its manufacturing plants), and spends $7.4 billion annually on operating and maintaining its factories in Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
But Whirlpool, whose ad drew a full-page rebuttal from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers accusing it of shutting factories in the United States, said nostalgia and similar sentiments do not drive its sales. “Whirlpool’s key differentiating points are quality and innovation,” said Mr. Beck, and “the icing is that, hey, we’re made in the United States.”
Whirlpool does not share its market research, but other market studies show that customers increasingly take note of where a product is made. Perception Research Services International, in a September study, found that four out of five shoppers notice a “Made in the U.S.A.” label on packaging, and 76 percent of them said they would be more likely to buy a product because of the label.
While shoppers, especially those over 35, say they want to help the economy by buying United States-made goods, “the motivating factors actually may be quality and safety,” said Jonathan Asher, executive vice president of Perception Research Services. The company, which is based in Teaneck, N.J., surveyed 1,400 consumers last summer. “People are paying attention in categories that are ingested like food, medicine and personal care products, but less so in electronics, office supplies and appliances,” he said.
In a separate study, the Boston Consulting Group found that 80 percent of consumers surveyed said they would be willing to pay more for “Made in the U.S.A.” products than for those carrying a “Made in China” label.
They would pay the biggest differential for items like baby food and wooden toys, and a smaller percentage for electronics, apparel and appliances, said Kate Manfred, director of the group’s Center for Consumer and Customer Insight in the Americas, which released the study in mid-November.
“Safety and quality, and keeping jobs in America, are the important factors,” she said.
Bixbi, a Boulder, Colo., pet treat provider, has relied on safety to increase sales. The company, which started in 2008 amid revelations of tainted dog food ingredients imported from overseas, sells dog treats made from locally raised chickens and other animals.
“Our sales have grown 600 percent each year,” said James Crouch, who founded the small company with his brother, Michael. “Locally sourced is a key advantage.”
But for all the talk about American-made goods, Bixbi is one of the few clients that have adopted “Made in the U.S.A.” marketing, said Dave Schiff, co-founder of Made Movement, a Boulder advertising firm that handles the Bixbi account.
“Some customers think that the American-made label may just be window dressing and companies can be reluctant to use it,” Mr. Schiff said. He and two colleagues started their firm in April to enlist client companies that manufacture in the United States.
Classifying goods as American-made can be dicey, he discovered, because many products have parts that are made outside the United States. To generate interest in such products, as well as a revenue stream, his firm in July started a Made Collection Web site to sell American-made goods.
But finding goods manufactured in the United States for the Web site has been a challenge, Mr. Schiff said. Many items on the Web site are expensive, like a $225 dress shirt from Hamilton, the Houston company that makes Made in America apparel that competes with brands like Levi’s Vintage Clothing and Orvis, which also capitalize on manufacturing in the United States.
Companies are keenly aware that highlighting American-made credentials can backfire after the experience of the apparel maker Ralph Lauren. Renowned for its American nostalgia, Lauren provided uniforms for the 2012 United States Olympic team that were made in China. That resulted in threats of a boycott by some angry consumers.
Some companies like Exxel Outdoors, which makes camping, hunting and fishing equipment, have considered, then rejected, marketing their American-made credentials. Exxel makes two million sleeping bags annually at its Haleyville, Ala., factory.
“We do manufacture in the United States, but there are a lot of variables, like where the components are made. Some of ours come from abroad, so it could be confusing,” Harry Kazazian, the company’s chief executive, explained.
“Simply using the Made in the U.S.A. label is not enough,” said Jaynie L. Smith, chief executive of Smart Advantage, a consulting firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“Companies can be foreign owned,” said Ms. Smith, who wrote “Relevant Selling,” a book about corporate sales strategy. “But they need to say that ‘We are still on your soil. We create jobs. We make quality products, and we’re delivering them quickly.’ ”
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Not that brands and retailers shouldn’t explore the opportunity to “build and sell more American product,” Cohen continued. “The companies that are building product in the U.S. and those selling those products need to exploit it; and those who aren’t sourcing here or using product sourced here need to explore it. Who can overlook the opportunity to address what might be even a 20 percent level of greater passion about the products they’re offering?”
A growing number of Americans say they’re ready to buy American even if it costs more.
Whether they’ll put their wallets where their mouths are remains to be seen, but Americans say that they’re ready to buy American even if it costs more. More than one in five respondents—21.4 percent—said they’d pick a U.S.-made shirt or blouse over a comparable import as long as the price wasn’t 25 percent higher. Another 17.3 percent said they’d choose the domestic option if the price was no more than 10 percent more expensive than the alternative. Three in 10, or 30.4 percent, would buy American only if the prices were approximately the same, while 21.8 percent would buy American “under any conditions.”
“Consumers are telling us that they’re willing to pay at least a bit more, and occasionally quite a bit more,” Cohen said. “The tolerance [for higher prices on American products] is there and the consciousness is there, but so far there hasn’t been a move in that direction.”
“Made in America” is a more attractive sell because of intangibles such as social responsibility and national pride, Barbara Kahn, director of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, told WWD. “People are more likely to pay for ‘Made in America’ if there was a value proposition tied to it,” she said. “The Italians have done that, and in that kind of a trade-up, people are willing to pay extra money for something. You can market to the economic recovery, the need for more American jobs and social responsibility, but it takes on greater meaning if it’s coupled with emphasis on quality, as some of the premium denim brands have seen.”
Americans may disagree about the premium they’re willing to pay for U.S.-made clothing, but if money were no object, nearly three-quarters—74.2 percent—approve of incentives to rebuild garment and textile production in the United States. Support for new trade barriers to discourage imports was less certain, with 55.7 percent of respondents in favor, 14 percent opposed, and 30.3 percent undecided.
An Associated Press reporter searching the factory Wednesday found these and other clothes, including sweaters from the French company Teddy Smith, among the equipment charred in the fire that killed 112 workers Saturday. He also found entries in account books indicating that the factory took orders to produce clothes for Disney, Sears , nd other Western brands.
Garments and documents left behind in the factory show it was used by a host of major American and European retailers, though at least one of them — Wal-Mart — had been aware of safety problems. Wal-Mart blames a supplier for using Tazreen Fashions without its knowledge.
The fire has elevated awareness of something labor groups, retailers and governments have known for years: Bangladesh’s fast-growing garment industry — second only to China’s in exports — is rife with dangerous workplaces. More than 300 workers there have died in fires since 2006.
Police on Wednesday arrested three factory officials suspected of locking in the workers who died in Saturday’s fire, the deadliest in the South Asian country’s less than 35-year history of exporting clothing.
Local police chief Habibur Rahman said the three will be questioned amid reports that many workers trying to escape the blaze had been locked inside. He said the owner of the factory was not among those arrested.
The three officials were arrested Wednesday at their homes in Savar, the Dhaka suburb where the factory is also located. Rahman did not identify the officials or give their job status.
Workers who survived the fire say exit doors were locked, and a fire official has said that far fewer people would have died if there had been just one emergency exit. Of the dead, 53 bodies were burned so badly they could not be identified; they were buried anonymously.
The fire started on the ground floor, where a factory worker named Nasima said stacks of yarn and clothes blocked part of the stairway.
Nasima, who uses only one name, said that when workers tried to flee, managers told them to go back to their work stations, but they were ignored.
Dense smoke filled the stairway, making it hard to see, and when the lights went out the workers were left in total darkness. Another surviving worker, Mohammad Rajiv, said some people used their cellphones to light their way.
“Everyone was screaming for help,” Nasima said. “Total chaos, panic and screaming. Everyone was trying to escape and come out. I was pulling the shirt of a man. I fainted and when I woke up I found myself lying on the road outside the factory.
“I don’t know how I survived.”
Rajiv said the factory conducted a fire drill just three days before the fire broke out, but no one used the fire extinguishers. “Only a selected group of workers are trained to use the extinguishers. Others have no idea how to use them,” he said.
Now windows at the eight-story factory are broken, sewing machines melted or burned to ash. Much of the clothing on the lower floors was incinerated. Nightgowns, children’s shorts, pants, jackets and sweat shirts were strewn about, piled up in some places, boxed in others.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Interior Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir have said arson is suspected. Police say they have not ruled out sabotage.
Wal-Mart had received an audit deeming the factory “high risk” last year, said it had decided to stop doing business with Tazreen, but that a supplier subcontracted work to the factory anyway. Wal-Mart said it stopped working with that supplier on Monday.
Calls made to The Walt Disney Company and to Sears Holdings were not immediately returned.
Local TV reports said about 3,000 garment workers held protests over the fire Wednesday, blocking roads and throwing stones at some factories and vehicles. It was the third straight day of demonstrations, and as they did previously, factories in the area closed to avoid violence.
Police used batons to disperse the protesters, but no injuries were immediately reported.
According to local television, most factories in the area closed after opening briefly because of the protests — a common tactic to avoid violence.
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Associated Press writer Farid Hossain in Dhaka, Bangladesh, contributed to this report.
Here in Massachusetts, “manufacturing is alive and well, and has a healthy future,” according to a recent report, “Staying Power II: A Report Card on Manufacturing in Massachusetts,” by professor Barry Bluestone and his team at Northeastern University.
Some of its key findings about Massachusetts manufacturing today:
Manufacturing employment has stabilized after a sharp decline in the recession
Manufacturing is the state’s six-largest employment sector — and the second-largest (after health care) in terms of payroll
Manufacturing’s share of gross state product has risen for the past two years, to 12.2 percent
The number of manufacturing firms actually increased in 2011, for the first time in decades
Manufacturing is more technologically intense than ever; in 1970 employment in low-tech sectors was twice that in high-tech, in 2006 they were equal, and by 2010 high-tech was 27 percent larger
Most Massachusetts manufacturing companies are small, and most are family-owned
The manufacturing workforce is more diverse than the overall state workforce
Although most jobs in manufacturing are now “white collar,” only about one position in five requires a college degree
While cost issues and global competition are challenges, the study finds, the skills and work ethic of the state’s workforce are powerful reasons to stay in Massachusetts. But employers are already experiencing difficulty in hiring skilled workers, and an upcoming wave of retirements will create up to 100,000 job vacancies over the next 10 years. The 70 percent of manufacturing firms foreseeing expansion of employment in the state over the next five years must face up to this “recruitment challenge” by focusing on workforce development and promoting manufacturing careers.
In this election year, candidates across the country, from President Obama and Governor Romney on down, have jumped onto the manufacturing bandwagon. Beacon Hill has cut the corporate excise tax, passed bills to control medical and energy costs, strengthened the Workforce Training Fund Program and the community colleges, and created the industry-led Massachusetts Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative. Nationally, however, the reality has been not bipartisan consensus but partisan deadlock.
If Congress really cares about manufacturing, there are issues that demand immediate action. Most urgent is heading off about $500 billion in tax increases that will hit the U.S. economy on January 1, along with huge automatic spending cuts. The top tax rate on dividends will almost triple, the top tax rate on capital gains will increase by more than half, and many small and mid-size manufacturers will see their top marginal tax rate rise, because nearly 70 percent of manufacturers file taxes at individual rates. The Research and Development tax credit expired for the 15th time at the end of 2011. And the U.S. corporate tax rate is the highest in the developed world. Action in other areas is equally vital, if less pressing; for example, the future of workforce development programs, largely shaped by federal policy, remains up in the air.
America’s manufacturing sector, historically the backbone of our economy and of upward mobility in our society, is entering a period of renewed opportunity. We need congressional action, now, to ensure that future expansion takes place here rather that abroad.
Richard Lord is president and CEO of Associated Industries of Massachusetts headquartered in Boston.
