Discuss the wholesale blanks industry: Factory direct, custom labels. You can also use this forum to locate a wide variety of wholesale products including t-shirts, hoodies, mousepads, coffee mugs and other imprintable products.
This is just an attempt by the Gilden corporation to attract more americans to buy cotton that's not manufactured in foreign sweatshops. It's a marketing ploy because most people don't care if it was made in a sweatshop or not.
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so is the brand that use them being untruthful by accident or is it acceptable practice?
the reason i ask is that it's a competitor in my targeted demographic and their tees r $5AU less than mine retail, yet i am using Article1 tees. so i want to let my customers and retailers know that i am using the better stock so my price is reasonable. cos i can see them saying " so and so tees are only $45".
the reason i ask is that it's a competitor in my targeted demographic and their tees r $5AU less than mine retail, yet i am using Article1 tees. so i want to let my customers and retailers know that i am using the better stock so my price is reasonable. cos i can see them saying " so and so tees are only $45".
you can let them know all you want how great it is.....but if you are in a competitive retail outlet paying $100/sqf. in rent for example, and your buying power is weak, all the preaching will not help you. Customers will flock your competitor's bird feeder sale rack and you will go home with no sales.
Are your customers really Article1 customers ? or is that your personal choice brand ? ....big difference, if you're serious about competing.
But again, when you do have a strong client base for Article1 (or whatever brand), you would not worrie about your competitor.
you can let them know all you want how great it is.....but if you are in a competitive retail outlet paying $100/sqf. in rent for example, and your buying power is weak, all the preaching will not help you. Customers will flock your competitor's bird feeder sale rack and you will go home with no sales.
Are your customers really Article1 customers ? or is that your personal choice brand ? ....big difference, if you're serious about competing.
But again, when you do have a strong client base for Article1 (or whatever brand), you would not worrie about your competitor.
i'm of the belief that a poor quality tee will le u sales no matter how great the design is. if u get a tee and the neck goes sloppy after a few washes then the likelihood of the customer buying from that brand again will diminish greatly.
as with article1, i think it's a pretty unknown brand here, i mean some of the ppl i called on through my market research didn't even know of american apparel. i think we are way behind down here in the t-shirt world.
i'm of the belief that a poor quality tee will le u sales no matter how great the design is.
Companies that make poor quality tees don't last long. Gildan's tees aren't poor quality in any sense.
Gildan's tees are made in south/central america and people have accussed them of running "sweatshops" in the past. But....most don't care. Also, from looking at your site, it doesn't seem like your market isn't going to care. Also, at least for me personally $25 is too much for those types of shirts (can easily find them for $10-15 elsewhere). Anyhow, having a true competitor that is selling $5 less than you...is a problem.
Edit: Just realized your in australia, I was thinking $25 US.
Last edited by Froggy; February 28th, 2007 at 04:08 AM.
Also, from looking at your site, it doesn't seem like your market isn't going to care.
There's more to it than just quality of finish - the emo crowd gravitate toward tight fitting clothing, so Article1 is also going to be more popular on the grounds of fit and fabric weight.
Gildan, like everyone else's tees are cut here, shipped out and sewn, and shipped back. That way they can claim "made in USA".
It should read, "woven and cut here, shipped and sewn there".
The reason I know this is because I had an order to ship out of country and it needed to get there with a quikness. The only way to do that was to have a 100% made in USA shirt. Sofee was the only company I could find that was cut and sewn here. They make shirts for the military, maybe that is why.
I am in no-way saying Gildan has a sweat-shop!
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I wish this question of whether Gildan is a bona fide "sweatshop-free" company or not could be clearly settled. It LOOKS like they are from their website, but I keep getting conflicting information (maybe from people who don't know any more than anyone else, but are convinced they do - these guys are adamant that Gildan are not genuinely sweatshop-free, but can only ever point to old articles on the web to support their claim).
I have a particular interest in establishing the facts one way or the other. I have a store owner interested in my designs, and considering an initial order to test his market, but his shop strongly supports animal lib, vegetarianism and fair trade policies, including ensuring all produce on sale in his store is sweatshop free. He's obviously sincere about his beliefs, and I can't with any conscience offer him Gildan Ts without KNOWING the true situation - and Gildans appear to be the right price for me and acceptable quality (just) for his retail needs. Besides, the Gildan Ultracottons are the only "name" brand American T widely available at a reasonable wholesale price in Australia, so it would be convenient to be able to use them as the blanks.
Can anyone give a definitive answer on this sweatshop issue re Gildans stuff?
I am aware of the relativity of the notion of "sweatshop-free", so I guess I am asking if anyone really knows about the factory conditions in which Gildan Ts are manufactured?
are gildan anti-sweatshop? 
