Apparel Networks Meeting

APPAREL NETWORKS
MEETING

Come learn about creativity and profitability in
local, regional, state and national
apparel networks.

WHERE: Caffé Panini (Conference room)
(Next door to Good Books)
1105 S. Mays Ste. 300
Round Rock, TX 78664

COST: Free

WHEN: 6:30PM to 7:30PM
Friday, April 20, 2007

Lets support Caffé Panini with our business for the use of their facility.
Please, call or email number of people attending with you. If you are unable to secure childcare I would be glad to meet with you at another time. Thank you.

Si usted se interesa por obtener mayor informacion favor de llamar o enviar un email a
mi cargo. No se alarme por el mensaje en ingles y dejeme su recado. Gracias.

Gilbert Torres

GTorresCUE@gmail.com
http://workingmannequin.blogspot.com/

Overheard around town

Just a few things I have overheard and discussed with several whose passion is in apparel.

1 The merchandiser requires I buy bulk quantities in order to obtain a low price.

Apparel (women's, particularly) has an extremely short lifespan. So, why stockpile merchandise you can only hope to sell, and, make a profit?

2 What am I suppossed to do with my unsold merchandise?

The apparel network direct model eliminates the middleman leftovers from your boutique.

3 People are cheap. They want extravangance in custom apparel at regular prices.

People don't know how regular price imports have hurt their own apparel jobs. Contractors and retailers attempt to fight off imports relying on the same business model which was overrun by the competition. Nonetheless, the apparel network direct model enables a much more competitive price as opposed to the traditional ceiling-high price associated with custom apparel.

4 Why should I have to pay nine hundred dollars for a custom-made dress?

I agree and I would ask contractors and retailers: Would you be willing to pay those prices for your own custom apparel? Why ask others to pay prices you would not like to pay yourself?

5 If I had a few thousand dollars I could do it.

The truth is the investment in apparel networks is nowhere near thousands of dollars, plus, it allows you to duplicate your efforts while increasing your revenue. Furthermore, unlike the traditional model where retailers tie up hundreds of dollars when buying from merchandisers local apparel networks enable them to get a quick turnaround on their merchandising capital with custom-made apparel, that is, reduced inventory.

6 I shop expensive dresses for my clients, but I make a small profit.

Why shop around when you can have your own local network create your apparel. Since they do most of the work they are compensated accordingly.

7 My sales and profits are good, but my rent eats it up.

Instead of feeding the rent monster and the merchandiser machine why not consider reducing your inventory and leveraging the resources of an apparel network.

8 My time is worth twenty dollars per hour and that's what I charge.

No one can dictate to an independent what they are to charge for their services, that is except, the consumer. Hourly rates are what employers pay employees. Contractors are nobody's employee. Consumers do not pay for what they do not wear. They do not wear your service. They wear your product, the apparel made with their pleasure in mind.

9 I am afraid someone will steal my business.

This is small thinking. You are a steward of the business you operate. Helping others become successful is not your loss.

10 I just don't have time.

Maybe because independents represent a breakaway from the environment of employer and fellow employees they believe they should conduct business: Alone. It is no wonder too many run themselves ragged. Apparel networks are about you being in business for yourself, but not by yourself.

The Cost of Tradition

ATTENTION: If you were looking for the Prom Dress survey: High School Prom Dress Survey

(Surely, Round Rock/Austin apparel networks could help parents and high school students in the form of a cost trimming on a prom dress, right?) WM

This article is taken from The Monitor. Click the post title to go to their site. WM

* * *

The Cost of Tradition -- Expense, trappings of prom increasing May 18,2006 Paige Lauren Deiner Monitor Staff Writer
Cost of prom dress and shoes: $360
Cost of tuxedo and shoes: $125
Cost of limo per couple: $115
Cost of dinner for two: $50
The perfect prom night: priceless
Valley area prom goers are dishing out large sums of money to ensure that their prom is an event to remember. But spending upwards of a $1,000 on prom is becoming the norm throughout the United States. The average prom couple spent $1,170 in 2005 said Richard Calo, who studies prom trends and operates a site called http://www.thepromsite.com/. In 1965 the same couple would have spent $120.
Easton Schrock, McAllen Memorial High School junior class president, says that for some people, prom is a good reason to max out credit cards, but others feel that prom is a little over rated.
“Mostly it is for seniors. It’s their last big high school event,” she said. “Senior prom is supposed to be a huge deal. I think it’s a little over-hyped. It’s just a dance to me. I really like decorating it and it’s a lot of fun to be with your friends. But people make it seem like it’s so huge and it’s really not.”
Schrock said that the McAllen Memorial High School Prom Committee plans to spend between $2,500 and $3,000 on decorating and renting the space for prom, which has a Las Vegas theme.
“Most people are spending around $400 (on prom),” said Schrock. But she said she didn’t know anyone who had their dress yet. And many people are trying to figure out who is going with whom, she said
Calo attributes the rising cost of prom to the extra elements added to prom, such as after-prom parties, hotel rooms, etc. Also, over the years, prom has become a much more extravagant event with limousines, very expensive dresses, and accessories. Now, tanning and waxing have entered the picture.
“On the whole, prom has become more expensive because teens are including more than just the prom dance in what they consider prom expenses,” said Calo. “While the prom dance is still thought of as the core of the prom experience, after-prom events and weekends are now factored in as an essential part of prom.”
George Lopez, a senior at McAllen Rowe High School, said that he is going to spend between $400 and $500 on prom, plus whatever he spends on dinner for prom night. He said that he thinks guys spend a lot more money on prom than girls do, but he said in the end it’s worth it.
“In a way, it’s tradition,” he said. “But it’s also celebrating the fact that you’re getting out of high school. It’s the big night before you graduate.”
But not every couple can or wants to spend $1,000 on prom. Jacob Duran, a student at McAllen Memorial High School, said “prom is a once in a lifetime thing and you don’t want to skip it.” But he said prom is “pretty expensive.” He said he knows people who are spending $300 to $400 on dresses alone, but he said that is not what he and his girlfriend are planning on doing. Duran said he plans on borrowing a suit or tux for the prom and his girlfriend is looking for an inexpensive but pretty dress.
“We’re not going all out (for prom),” he said. He said he plans on spending between a $100 and a $125 on prom. Included in that cost, he plans on getting a corsage for his girlfriend and photos.
Some couples though do go all out. Blanca Salazar, the owner of Norhil Bridal, said that many girls begin looking for their prom dresses in January. She said it is very important to them that they don’t appear at the prom wearing the same dress as someone else.
Schrock said she plans on spending about $250 on her dress, but she wants to make sure she is the only one wearing it on prom night.
“It’s important to me, because I’m planning to go into the fashion field. My style is a little different from other people. I wouldn’t have a fun time if my dress was the same as someone else’s. I like to be my own person and since fashion is something I like a lot I feel like my dress should express who I am,” she said.———Paige Lauren Deiner covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4425.

http://www.themonitor.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=13224&Section=What's%20Up

My Size

Have you seen the commercial where the viewer is asked to guess the number the man is thinking about: It is his credit score.

Yet, despite their wide use we resent being treated as a number. It is impersonal. It is de-humanizing.

Everyday, somewhere apparel customers shop through store racks in search of that one apparel item they hope will reflect their

personal likes in fabric, design, color, price, and that most important, personal number: Size, nobody's business, right?

Have you heard the consumer cynicism of manufactured apparel captured in the phrase: "One size fits none"?

Size is not just a number. It is a number reflecting an individual's personal information.

Computer buyers can have their custom-made computer manufacturered right in Round Rock.

Apparel customers deserve no less than "My Size" custom-made apparel at competitive prices.

"My Size" is a promise made possible through contractor - retailer apparel networks, only.

Nobody need ever again guess your number size. Nobody ever again needs to know it.

So, what does your apparel network look like?

Two greatly talented women

We spend years making a living using our talents as employees. We have made many an employer wealthy with their use of our wealth. That's not a complain. That's a commitment of mutual advantage called the employer/employee relationship, but I want to tell you about two great talents.

I posed the question to my friend, "What is the difference between an upscale, high-price dress at Neiman Marcus and a similar dress at an independent retail
store"? "None" I replied before she could answer. That is the Neiman Marcus dress is manufactured by an individual on the production floor. The other is manufactured by the same individual in their home as an independent contractor for his/her client, the independent retailer.

I posed this same question with my reply to my friend. She had heard me go on so many times about my business dream for creating apparel networks.

Today, she surprised me. "I used to make dresses for Neiman Marcus" she said.
"Really?" I said.
"Yeah, it was just a few of us in a small shop" she explained.
My friend had just described what I had reasoned, but never really knew for a fact. The truth is, I explained to her, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands,
of small shops like that one in Taylor Texas. The government categorizes them as "independent contractors" and they are vital to apparel manufacturers who outsource work to them.
*
I was visiting with a couple. They had left a familiar setting, lifestyle and country along with their professional careers to come to America. The living room where
we sat was filled with portraits of couples. Most of them wore the most extraordinary wedding dresses found in the best of wedding dress boutiques.
It was her husband who gave me a tour of their portrait gallery explaining, while his wife sat without comment, the wedding dresses were the creation of her hands.

She had been an executive administrative assistant for many years in her country. In America she was helping provide for their family through her custodial
job. Yet, the enormous talent and ability to design and create wedding dresses seemed as easy as boiling water. It was something she had done over the
years, not so much as a hobby and certainly not as a job, but as a favor for friends and relatives.

FOR FREE!

I will not speak of friends and family who would take such advantage. I will speak of her talent. There are many like her.

Is there not an independent apparel boutique specializing in wedding dresses who could not or would not contract such talent? How about my friend with the ability
to make dresses no differently than she made for Neiman Marcus?

Apparel networks between contractors and retailers are the creation of one vast, enormous talent pool. It is a direct model which allows retailers to market their own
label or simply Made in USA.

Don't let another year go by without the income potential of your resources; your Knowledge, Skills and Experience in apparel.

The Changing Face of Texas Labor

Although this report dates from 2003 it is still true. I have pulled some key points in the article. wm

3 Take special note of the "Industries losing the most jobs": Apparel manufacturing.
Take special note of the "Texas Industries Adding the Most jobs": Specialty Trade Contractors.

5 More jobs in small firms, greater use of leased and independent contract labor means fewer and shorter career ladders

Changing nature of work: New paradigm for career ladders

3 Increased role for contingent workers, outsourcing, independent contractors with few promotional ladders.

* * *

What does this mean for those who have lost their employment in apparel?

It means you ought not expect the job market in apparel manufacturing to open back up, again.

It means that apparel, as a part of the US retail sector, is adding jobs. However, the report also points out those being hired are educated and have college degrees.

What it means is there is plenty of opportunity for those who love to work apparel.

Both, government and industry regard apparel manufacturing as non-to-low-skilled and there's no room or need for them in the new and improved automated apparel manufacturing floor.

Working Mannequin sees these former apparel employees as having Knowledge, Skills and Experience (KSE). Working Mannequin believes it is this KSE which qualifies them to fill the
need among the "smaller firms" for "leased and independent contract" as mentioned above in number 5.

The Working Mannequin direct model of apparel networks is putting a face of private ownership in Texas and the nation. The direct model makes you the "smaller firm" and "independent contract" accountable to no one, but yourself.

How does this change affect you?

High School Prom Dress Survey

This survey was submitted to Round Rock high school campuses.

You are invited to share what is important to you. This survey is anonymous. Please, participate even if you have never purchased a Prom Dress. The information will be used by Round Rock Independent Contractors and Independent Apparel Retailers.

Rate the following from 1 (being the most important) to 10 (being the least important).

Copy blue text below. Clickcomments to open comments box. Scroll down and paste blue text into "Leave your comment" box. Type in your number choices. Type in Word Verification. Choose an Identity. You can type in additional comments at bottom of your survey. Publish your comment.

___ cost ___ design

___ fabric ___ style

___ service ___ color

___ availability of choices ___ retailer

___ brand ___ retailer location

Texas Textiles - Office of the Governor

I have highlighted in red the text at the bottom. There's an opportunity for textile to support apparel networks. wm

http://www.bidc.state.tx.us/industry%20profiles/profiletextiles.pdf

Textiles Industry Overview

The textiles industry (NAICS 313, 314) includes establishments – or mills - that transform basic fiber into a
product, such as yarn or fabric, which is further manufactured into usable items, such as apparel, rugs,
curtains, rope, bags, or linens, for individual or industrial consumption. Processes include fiber preparation
and spinning, fabric knitting or weaving, textile finishing, and cutting and sewing.

Texas Industry Facts

Firms 544
Establishments 565
Employment 11,352
Average Weekly Wage $617, $502 *
Value Added Per Employee $43,590
Value of Shipments $1.2 billion
Total Capital Investments $24.3 million
Sources: Texas Workforce Commission - 2005Q4
Employment & Wages, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 2004
* NAICS 313, 314

How Texas Ranks

All Employees 9
Production Workers 9
Value Added 12
Value of Shipments 10
Total Capital Investments 11
Source: Annual Survey of Manufactures, 2004
* NAICS 314 – 313 data are incomplete

Texas Exports

• In 2005, Texas textiles and fabric products
exports were valued at $1.3 billion and textile mill
products exports were valued at $290.2 million.
• In 2005, textiles and fabric exports was Texas 14th
largest category and textile mill exports was Texas
22nd largest category.
Source: WISERTrade, 2005 (NAICS 313, 314)

Top Export Markets

Textiles and Fabric Products
Mexico $1,189,435,624
Guatemala $24,577,174
El Salvador $17,326,351
Nicaragua $14,902,051
Textile Mill Products
Mexico $218,063,406
Canada $17,413,327
Kuwait $10,670,182
Japan $6,040,855
Source: WISERTrade, 2005 (NAICS 313, 314)

Major Industry Employers in Texas

Company Location Product Description
Sahara Sportswear El Paso Clothing, bags, rainwear & windwear embroidery
VF Jeanswear El Paso Blue jeans
American Cotton Growers Littlefield Denim fabrics
Homemaker Industries Brownsville Braided rugs
Mid-West Textile Co. El Paso Industrial wiping cloths
Source: Texas Manufacturers Register 2006

Recent Industry Trends
• 2005Q4 Texas textiles industry employment remained the same while wages, firms, and establishments
decreased slightly since 2004Q4.
• From 2003 to 2004, Texas textiles industry’s Value Added per Employee decreased 32%, Value of
Shipments decreased 20%, and Total Capital Investments increased 32%.
Sources: Texas Workforce Commission - 2005Q4 & 2004Q4 Employment & Wages, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 2003 & 2004

Office of the Governor - Economic Development & Tourism September 2006
T E X A S I N D U S T R Y P R O F I L E

Texas Apparel - Office of the Governor

I have highlighted in red the text at the bottom. Those who lost their employ in the apparel industry have their Knowledge, Skills, and Experience to create apparel, still. wm



http://www.bidc.state.tx.us/industry%20profiles/profileapparel.pdf

Apparel Industry Overview

The apparel industry (NAICS 315) includes establishments that cut and sew and manufacture fabrics and
garments, including: ready-to-wear and custom apparel; textile and knitting mills; contractors, jobbers, and
tailors; millinery; footwear; luggage and handbags; and personal leather goods such as watchbands.

Texas Industry Facts

Firms 446
Establishments 459
Employment 8,948
Average Weekly Wage $514
Value Added Per Employee $68,704
Value of Shipments $1.6 billion
Total Capital Investments $15 million
Sources: Texas Workforce Commission - 2005Q4 Employment &
Wages, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 2004

How Texas Ranks

All Employees 6
Production Workers 6
Value Added 5
Value of Shipments 4
Total Capital Investments 4
Source: Annual Survey of Manufactures, 2004

Texas Exports

• In 2005, Texas apparel and accessories exports
were valued at $482.7 million – up from $427
million.
• In 2005, apparel and accessories was Texas 20th
largest exporting category.
Source: WISERTrade, 2005 (NAICS 315)

Top Export Markets

Mexico $353,289,146
Canada $44,365,305
Honduras $35,564,074
Belize $9,082,642
Australia $4,833,043
Source: WISERTrade, 2005 (NAICS 315)

Major Industry Employers in Texas

Company Location Product Description
Haggar Clothing Dallas Men's, women's & children's apparel
Walls Industries Cleburne Workwear, hunting, & outdoor apparel
VF Jeanswear El Paso Jeans
Orc Industries Brownsville Military outerwear
MFI International El Paso Contract sewing, assembly & packaging
Source: Texas Manufacturers Register 2006

Recent Industry Trends

• 2005Q4 Texas apparel industry average weekly wages, firms and establishments have decreased slightly, and employment has decreased about 8% since 2004Q4.
• From 2003 to 2004, Texas apparel industry’s Value Added per Employee increased 6%, Value of Shipments decreased almost 6%, and Total Capital Investments increased 50%.
Sources: Texas Workforce Commission - 2005Q4 & 2004Q4 Employment & Wages, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 2003 & 2004

Office of the Governor - Economic Development & Tourism September 2006
T E X A S I N D U S T R Y P R O F I L E

BUSINESS PRESENTATION

If you are involved in apparel retail, design, production, distribution or related fields you are invited to attend a presentation on local independent contractors and independent apparel retailer networks

Where:

Church building (Portable C)
1200 N. Georgetown Street
Round Rock, TX 78664

When:

Friday, January 19, 7:00PM

Cost: Free

Directions:

If you are driving south on I-35 take Hwy 79 exit, turn left (east) toward Hutto and Taylor. Go to third traffic light, Georgetown Street/Hwy 79 intersection w/Walgreens drugstore. Turn left: 1200 N. Georgetown Street is just behind corner business plaza

If you are driving north on I-35 take Hwy 79 exit, turn right (east) toward Hutto and Taylor. Go to third traffic light, Georgetown Street/Hwy 79 intersection w/Walgreens drugstore. Turn left: 1200 N. Georgetown Street is just behind corner business plaza