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American-Made Apparel in So Many Ways; Costco vs. Wal-Mart
There’s no reason to buy
imported apparel if you know where to look. Over the last few months, I have
written several “Buy American Mention of the Week” articles on just how easy
– and affordable – it is to buy apparel made in the USA. My belief that
everything you wear every day can be (and should be) made in the USA
continues to be reinforced as I continue to become aware of more patriotic
apparel-makers that pride themselves in their American workforce.
>From dress shirts and
everyday apparel to bikinis and pajamas, all can be found made in the USA.
As layoffs and Chinese imports increase simultaneously, we can help replace
these jobs by directing our dollars to American manufacturers, forcing them
to expand their production and hire more Americans. I’m sure that neither
the American companies nor their newly-hired employees would complain.
I had the pleasure of meeting
the owner for A.N.H. Distributors last month, and I have just received my
first order from their King Cotton Collection. You can see their collection
at
www.anhdistributors.com.
Every item they offer is made in their Miami factory.
Looking for American-made
dress shirts? Try
www.mortonshirts.com
or check out the new pinpoint oxford dress shirt from
www.quantumcotton.com.
Quantum’s new white dress shirt is simply the softest and most comfortable
dress shirt I have ever worn.
If you’re looking to get into
the swing of spring, try
www.venusswimwear.com.
Venus Swimwear is based in Jacksonville, Florida and is America’s largest
maker of swimwear. Let’s help keep them on top since every piece of swimwear
they offer is stitched right here in the USA. Venus does offer other
clothing and accessories that may not be American made, so if you search
their catalog for items other than swimwear, keep this in mind.
Looking for American-made
pajamas? Try Pajama Mama’s website at
www.pjmama.com
where you’ll see several styles and colors – all made in the USA.
Of course we can’t always
order everything over the internet or via telephone. When you’re not
searching for American-made apparel and find yourself looking for a big name
retailer that has everything, you might try Costco instead of Wal-Mart. I
haven’t seen any data on the percentage of goods made in America from Costco
vs. Wal-Mart, even though Wal-Mart is America’s biggest importer of Chinese
goods, but there are other reasons Costco might be more deserving of our
dollars.
Costco has a reputation in the
retail industry for providing the best benefits for their employees, and
their wages are much better than Wal-Mart’s as well. Cashiers start out at
$10.50 an hour, top out at $17.50 an hour, and can make $40,000 a year in
less than four years working full-time.
Wal-Mart, which refuses to
release information on their wage rates, claiming they vary depending on the
location, starts their Las Vegas cashiers at $7.65 an hour and tops them out
at $11.45 an hour. It’s amazing that Wal-Mart’s top pay for cashiers is less
than 10% higher than Costco’s starting pay.
Costco’s employee turnover
rate is more than half of Wal-Mart’s, and the company has successfully
resisted passing on rising health care costs to their employees seven of the
last eight years.
As you might guess, Costco has
taken some heat from the Wall Street elite for being too generous to their
employees and not focusing on shareholder returns instead. That should be a
clue to ordinary Americans that Costco is doing something right. Could it be
that 82% of Costco’s employees are covered (able to afford) company-provided
health insurance? Could it be that Costco covers 92% of health care premiums
for their workers vs. 66.6% for Wal-Mart? The answer is probably “yes” to
both questions.
The more health care premiums
are covered by successful American companies employing Americans, the less
the federal government will be obligated to cover through higher taxes on
all of us as pressures mount to find a solution to the health-care crisis.
The best solution is obviously not one that shifts the burden to working
Americans.
So when you’re looking for
American-made apparel of any kind, try one of the company websites featured
in this article, or one of the many others featured on the links page at
www.howtobuyamerican.com.
But for general retail, consider Costco instead of Wal-Mart, where you’re
likely to find happier employees for a happier shopping experience.
Roger Simmermaker, Author
How Americans Can Buy American
www.howtobuyamerican.com
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