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Table of contents

Introduction and Objectives

Distribution Strategies

Distribution Channels

Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Delivery Mode and Terms


Interactive Summary

 

Copyright 2006
Cornell University.
All rights reserved.

 

Industry Organizations

The apparel industry has a complex set of organizations that help designers and producers get their product to the consumer. These include:


Trade Show at the Javits Center in New York City.

Trade organizations are membership organizations that promote a specific set of apparel products. They work for their members by promoting their products, providing information on industry developments and trends, and developing alliances with other industry organizations to sell products. Examples of apparel industry organizations are:


Trade shows offer space to sell products at the wholesale market.
Trade shows and collection shows offer places to sell your products as well as purchase materials (see the Sourcing Materials module). These are organized by product type and often coincide with regional industry Market Weeks in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, etc. In addition to trade shows in convention centers, smaller groups sometimes locate with competing product sellers in hotels.


Brill photo"We haven't even approached any of the upscale department stores...for a couple of reasons..."

Amy Brill Handmade Sweaters distributes mostly through boutiques and sells at shows set up for these small boutiques at hotels. Brill describes some of the problems for a small business with distributing to upscale department stores:

  • orders are too big to easily be filled
  • department store could cancel
  • payment is on department store terms, rather than her business' preferences-COD or net 30.

 


www.apparelnews.net/TradeShows/index.html provides a list of locations and dates of trade shows related to apparel and textiles. As you can see, you could go to a different trade show almost every day. The best idea is to decide which one or two shows will position your product for distribution to the right types of stores or business customers.

Notice the shows for gift, boutique, and jewelry markets as well as the women's and men's fashion products. Some of the shows have a special section for entrepreneurs who have unique product lines and limited production capacity.

Regional market centers as well as New York City's Garment District house showrooms are also organized by product types. You can rent a showroom permanently or on a temporary basis during the seasonal Market Weeks. Look at the offerings of the regional markets on their web sites:


 

 

 

  
   
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