Effectiveness Of American Apparel As An Organization

“American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. is a chain of mall-based stores that sells casual, outdoor-inspired fashion apparel” (American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.). This company operates 846 stores in the United States and Canada (McDonnell). American Eagle Outfitters first began in 1977 and was a division of Silvermans Menswear, Inc. As a family owned and operated retail business, Silvermans Menswear, Inc., sold accessories and attire for young men. When the business was in the third generation, the Silverman brothers thought it was necessary to add a new element in order for the company to prosper. This business move would allow the

First of all, the amount of clothing in the United States that had been purchased from other countries has been increasing in great numbers. Most clothing in America was made in America until the 1970’s when clothing from outside countries started becoming more common. This happened because labor costs were much cheaper in other countries than in America, causing the products from those countries to also be much cheaper than those made in the United States and retailers were gaining better profits. The minimum wage in the United States is $7.26 per hour, while in China the average clothing factory worker earns $1.26 an hour and $0.52 in Cambodia. By 1990, of all the clothing sold in America, fifty percent were made in America- which has

Karen Coates really exploits the relationship between corporations and garment manufactures in her article. It really opens people’s eyes, it shows people who may not know, they could be wearing clothes that was made with the hands of a struggling worker. In her essay she shows us the values of the four social actors. One of them being the workers. The workers are the most abused. They have little to no say in what they do, they are controlled and tormented every single day for a little days pay. The workers struggle to stay up long hours, they work in hard conditions and when they finally get to go home they are not living in the best of situations. Most workers pay can’t support a large family who has kids and medical expenses. The workers

American Apparel Controversy After eight years of nurturing his idea to make T-shirts in America, Canadian-born Dov Charney founded American Apparel – “Made in USA” T-shirt – Sweatshop Free factory as a wholesale business followed by his moved to Los Angeles in 1997. At the beginning, Charney’s business intention was to focus on supplying American-made T-shirts to screen printers; yet, emerging labels was a profitable strategic business decision. In 2003, American Apparel opened its first retail store. As a visionary thinker, Charney disrupted the fashion industry with his strategies and racy marketing ideas.

Watching the documentary, doing the project and listening to the discussion, I realized that we are a part of the exploitation of workers. Having clothes are nice but realizing that people are exploited is awful. Companies’ should strive harder to make sure that it doesn’t happen. If you are running a multi-million dollar company, why can’t you pay a little extra to accommodate others? I would rather support a business that pays their workers well, and gives them protection. We are competing while polluting people’s homes at the same time. How does that sound? Sounds like America and Capitalism to me.

According to the film, the transnational corporations dominate the economic side of the clothing industry; for example, H&M had consumer demands for “fast fashion” at a low price, and often for products that are unavailable during particular fashion seasons; therefore, the stores then must outsource their supply orders with foreign sources, such as developing countries of Bangladesh or Cambodia. In fact, 97% of our clothes in America are outsourced, which aids in the concept of “fast fashion,” or the idea of something new in clothing market comes in every week to make the price tags go down for the consumer. As Sklair points out, “neither the retailer nor the consumer needs to know or care where the product comes from,” just as long as they receive the clothing product at the cheapest price nothing else tends to matter; however, “many campaigning groups,” like the True Cost film, “make sure that customers know that some products comes from, like sweatshops in the East” (Lechner & Boli, 2015, pg. 65). Therefore, it is easy to see how transnational corporations take over the economic side of the clothing industry; they outsource their

In fact, such conditions involved their workers being slapped and/or beaten if their production was sub-par. Furthermore, those workers were found to have been forced to work five or more overtime hours per day, without being given the overtime pay they were legally obligated to receive. A few years later, it was revealed that their lingerie was made by cotton picked by children working in Burkina Faso. Although Disney is one of the most recognizable brands in the world, especially among children, their history with sweatshop labour is in stark contrast to their image. Sweatshops in countries like China, Bangladesh and Haiti have been known to produce clothing for the company, with Chinese labour workers in particular being paid 33 to 41 cents an hour, with numerous employees being as young as 14 years of age with no health benefits or a pension included with their employment. In Tazreen, Bangladesh, a fire at a sweatshop producing Disney clothing as well as brands associated with Sears and Walmart caused the deaths of 114 workers. We want people to have a chance for employment, but we shouldn’t sacrifice the desire for people to be treated humanely just because we want to see them employed. We should fight for employment while also fighting for human rights. It’s not an “either-or” situation. It’s a moral imperative. It’s the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matthew

When deciding between us and our competitors, when choosing which performance apparel producer you want to invest into, we know the marketplace for performance apparel, footwear and accessories is highly competitive and includes many new competitors as well as increased completion from established companies expanding their production and marketing of performance products (pg. 6, 10k). We believe we have been successful in competing with others for limited retailer floor space because of the relationships we have developed as a direct result of the strong sales of our products. Under Armour is the official sponsor of the National Football League Combine. They are also the official footwear supplier of Major League Baseball (5 Things You Didn’t

This report is on the retail company, Abercrombie & Fitch. I will discuss what they are known for and how they provide a safe working place for their employees, vendors, and customers. I will discuss their hiring practices and minimum requirements. I provided a SWOT Analysis of their employee- employer relationships. I will discuss the controversial issues they have faced regarding ethical behavior with their employees. Finally, I will discuss what I have learned from this company and what I would change or continue doing within their business.

Many American businesses, companies and retailers continue to keep manufacturing of products overseas, because they can employ less expensive labor with fewer regulations to comply with. In the end the retailer can sell their products manufactured overseas to the consumer in America at a lower price. Such as furniture, natural resources are more accessible overseas and this is an advantage for the furniture retail business. When the U.S. and other nations allowed China to join the World Trade Organization in 2001 over 2.7 million jobs were sent overseas. This was a benefit for the overseas market and beneficial to their economy. The cost of complying with the regulations in the U.S. and managing the risks can be quite substantial so it is

This report examines the internal, external and capability of Arcadia Group with several recommendations are provided. Apparel market constantly growth in sales revealed £41,943.9 million in 2015. (Passport 2016) The Group stated the revenue £2.7 billion in 2014 (Mintel, 2015), performed a strong power on its supply chain and marketing innovation. However, the company is experiencing a challengeable time as it showed a fluctuation on the sales and growth during the recent years. Arcadia Group is also facing the obstacle on the ethical issues on environmental and social and the weak performance of several brands in the group.

American Apparel follow 3 operating segments which are U.S., Canada, and International. The U.S. segment is composed of their wholesale of undecorated clothing to the third party distributors and screen printers, the retail store operations, and the online consumer sales in the U.S. The Canada segment is composed of their wholesale, retail store operations and online consumer sales in Canada. The international segment is composed of their wholesale, retail store operations and online consumer sales outside of U.S. and Canada. As of December 31, 2013, American Apparel had 139 retail stores operated in the U.S., 32 retail store operated in Canada, and 77 retail store operated in 18 countries except U.S. and Canada. Their stores are primarily

Activists say that global clothing brands like Tommy Hilfiger and the Gap and those sold by Walmart need to take responsibility for the working conditions in Bangladeshi factories that produce their clothes."

Abercrombie and Fitch, founded in 1892, is an American clothing company that targets young customers. It is headquartered in New Albany, Ohio, and has over 250 locations in the United States and is expanding internationally. Abercrombie and Fitch is a reputable apparel and lifestyle brand. However, in the past few years, the company’s image has been battered by accusations of discrimination toward minority groups. In this report, I will describe and analyze Abercrombie and Fitch’s current CSR policies and activities, and provide recommendations to improve the company’s brand image. I will focus on the four main social responsibilities that A&F highlights, which are environmental sustainability, diversity and human rights in the employment and its independent contractors, customer care, and the community.

The United States Companies are most certainly accountable for workers who produce the apparel they market. The Americans care about security of all employees. For example, research states, those global clothing buyers, mainly the United States companies, have a job to execute guaranteeing security of Bangladesh’s apparel workers” (Sherman, 2013).