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What Happened to Quantum Cotton
Company…And More
The title for this latest “Buy American Mention of the Week”
is in the form of a question since I have received so many of them regarding
Quantum Cotton Company. I have received so many questions – and continue to do
so – that I felt motivated to devote at least part of a BAMW to letting everyone
know that Quantum Cotton has indeed gone out of business. The good news is that
ZebulonUSA (www.zebulonusa.com) has acquired the remaining inventory from
Quantum’s former supplier.
According to Paul Staunch, owner of ZebulonUSA, they have about 370 pairs of
khaki pants, 130 of the khaki shorts, and smaller quantities of dress shirts and
women’s skirts. They also have about 1,000 of Quantum’s made-in-USA polo shirts.
None of the dress shirts that remain are available in white, however. To browse
these former Quantum products, as well as the many fine ZebulonUSA products,
please visit www.zebulonUSA.com.
Many of you also may remember Cape Shoe Company, which I mentioned in this BAMW
September 8, 2003 http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/bamw/bamw-030908-shoes2.shtml.
Cape Shoe (www.capeshoe.com) went out of business on August 24 of this year. I
talked with owner Eli Fishman about this unfortunate news, and he directed me to
a great website, www.workertimes.com, which has posted many great articles
written by him. Eli also told me that he believed a big part of the reason for
his company’s downfall was the American consumer’s unwillingness in too many
instances to “put their money where their mouth is,” adding that too many people
preach “Buy American” but not enough are actually doing it.
Cape Shoe’s workers were represented by UAW Local 1930, so unions were obviously
a very likely target consumer group for Cape Shoe products. Eli told me he would
get permission to offer his union-made boots at manufacturing plants on
occasion, but when he would walk into a unionized plant of 4,000 workers and
only sell 100 pairs of union-made boots, it did tend to give him an uneasy
feeling about the future viability of pushing “Buy American.”
I’m certainly not here to bash unions. I belong to two of them. But that doesn’t
mean I agree with everything union leaders suggest either. Unions, just like any
other organization, can get big and greedy and experience their share of
corruption. But so can the government, yet no one would be credible in saying
that because of that we should abolish government. And likewise, we should not
be advocates to abolish unions. They are probably the only organization left
today that has the power to put upward pressure on wages. America needs that.
But as Eli pointed out in one of his great articles at www.workertimes.com,
“Union members should not call for preserving American jobs while wearing
Chinese-made clothing and footwear. Every purchase counts. Union leaders need to
educate their members on the importance of their individual contributions and
refocus them on shared communal values. These union leaders, in effect,
represent all American workers.”
Should everyone on the Buy American Mention of the Week email list have bought
from Cape Shoe? Of course not. Few of us could afford to support every product
or company featured on www.howtobuyamerican.com, but we need to buy from them
(or other companies that offer American-made products that can be found
elsewhere) when we are in the market for the product or service they offer.
The message is clear. If we talk the talk of “Buy American,” then we must walk
the walk as well. That way, we can keep other patriotic, American companies like
Quantum Cotton and Cape Shoe from having to close their doors. We must buy
American while there is still American left to buy.
Roger Simmermaker, Author
How Americans Can Buy American
www.howtobuyamerican.com
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