Purposes of School
Uniforms
In recent years, the
market has mushroomed. Once a small
specialty area, school uniforms have become a national trend, encompassing
every child of school age. Why—a
movement in our country believes that sameness among our children will:
Decrease peer pressure; control appearance by establishing dress-codes, which
would eliminate inappropriate styles (some potentially cult-like); encourage
monetary savings; put education before socialization.
Market Diversity
For decades, the market
has been catering to more affluent private and parochial schools. Now, middle class charter schools and public
schools have gotten involved. These are
2 economically diverse philosophies, which split the industry down the middle. Those who, for years, have been involved in
the tightly supervised, quality-controlled, contracted arena, are wary of mass
marketing—a less expensive more diversified direct sales approach. Similarly, those who manufacture more cost
effective, less specialized items, have turned away from customized pricey-ness
of the past.
Marketing to the Masses
Beth Silver, brand manager
of French Toast Uniforms, supports her company’s integrity and focus: “We sell
to the big chains—Target, Sears, K-Mart—and to uniform specialty stores,
wherever people buy clothing. We’re
accessible, we’re visible. We’re
involved with a $30 million inventory in a micro-market. We manufacture over 150 items, with 5000
SKU’s (Stock Keeping Units). We offer
high quality garments at affordable prices.
“We mass merchandise
direct to parents and to retailers. We
have our website, we are visible to the people we serve, but we do not sell
direct. We learn our market areas, we stock
local stores accordingly. We give the
people what they want, just like any other clothing manufacturer. We started out with only 4 items 10 years
ago, and we’ve grown as people have asked for greater diversity. We speak directly with educators—we poll
them—we find out what they want.
“People in the private
sector are amazed that we can make reasonably priced garments for less
money. The public school clientele is
relieved that there are no custom measurements, no special arrangements to be
made 5-7 months before the next school year.
We sell all year round, and our uniforms are continually available. We’re no longer a seasonal item.
“We have a Partners in
Education program where we go into the schools and educate our customers. Now, they’re saying, ‘Wow! Purchasing uniforms is exciting and fun,’
instead of the hassle it used to be.
When you empower people to handle their own programs, it becomes easy
for them.”
Mass Customization/Selective
Merchandising
Steve Royal, head of Royal
Park Uniforms, is equally as involved as Beth, but in a different market. “We cater primarily to the private and
parochial schools,” he says. “The public
schools don’t have a uniform code; they have a dress code. There’s no real continuity there, and for our
business, no money to be made. The
difference between the 2 is that a dress code is about colors, items.
“Public schools cannot
demand standardized garments because of Constitutional law. All they can say is, ‘Go buy a white shirt
and a pair of tan pants.’ Do you know
how many styles and fabrics and colors there are of tan pants? Then, there’s the label. A designer-labeled pair of tan pants still
out-sparkles a discount-labeled pair of tan pants. The main point of uniforms is to make
everybody equal. In a private school,
everything is the same, everything is specified. Everything is equal. There are no labels.”
Lester Reif of Rifle
Uniforms agrees. “There’s a tremendous difference between the public and
private sectors. In private, the market
is our trading partner. We plan our
business based upon school compliance and standardized garments. We know what to expect, and how many styles
and fabrics to anticipate for the coming year.
In the public sector, there is no compliance, no specific market. Everything is generic and last minute.”
Steve Royal continues, “We
sell to 14,000 –15,000 private institutions a year. We are able to do this by going through
uniform specialty dealers. Every school
has a different color scheme, plaid, and/or style. We frequently cut just 3 garments per size
per color per style at a time. Rather
than issuing mass uniform styles and colors in stock sizes, we only supply a
store with particular school items for that designated target area. We respect the individuality of our
customers.
“10-11 years ago, we
solely made plaids, but we found people weren’t using our merchandise because
we couldn’t provide a complete package to the schools. So, we added everything, from barrettes and
headbands to sweats, shorts, and sox. We
do yarn-dyed vs. less expensive printed plaids; our fabrics are more costly but
they wash and wear longer. People have
to decide what’s cheaper in the long run: Our uniforms last for at least 3
years; the lower end garments begin to fade after 10-12 washings.
“Ironically, we owe our
increase of business to the public school sector. When it got involved, dress codes relaxed,
and the private sector wanted that for its children, too. Now, instead of uniforms just a few months a
year, sold in the fall, we’re doing business all year round, transitioning and
continually providing different accessories to our dealers.”
Room for Both
Barbara Black, president
of AA Uniforms, acknowledges both points of view.
“The school uniform
business is going Kaboom! Private schools are quality driven; public
schools are price driven. What’s unfortunate is that most consumers don’t
recognize that higher price means higher quality.
“The question is which
market different uniform manufacturers want to target, because that’s how they
will stay in business. If a company
wants to mass market, it needs to work with the principals of the schools, it
needs to find out what it is people want, it needs to figure out how to keep
manufacturing garments all year round that are primarily shopped for during
August and September. It needs to figure
out what to do with inventory that is only saleable during back-to-school time.
“Department stores and
big-box stores will have to figure this out, too. Once school is in session, very few families
go shopping for uniforms the rest of the year, unless it’s for a special
situation. Once the uniforms are
purchased, they’re often handed down from sibling to sibling. School uniforms are very different from
seasonal items and fashion trends.
“Customized manufacturers,
on the other hand, have to continue to sell in small stores but mass market so
that they reach their clientele. They
have to be able to provide all those uniform items the mass marketed
manufacturers do, and be able to convince their dealers that the extra cost is
worth it. Manufacturers for the private
sector must continue to have contracts with the schools, guaranteeing
production and purchasing of garments.
They have to go the extra distance in service through their partnerships
with dealers and schools.”
Bottom Line
Beth, Steve, Lester,
Barbara, are all successful school uniform manufacturers. They’ve done their homework regarding the
marketplace and what it takes to stay in business. What is true is that the lure of the
lucrative school uniform business is also involving a lot of folks who don’t
understand the pitfalls of the industry: The result is that many businesses,
which either specialize in school uniforms or add them as a major part of their
lines, fail.
Many of the companies, in
order to succeed, are forced to buy goods and manufacture some if not all of
their merchandise offshore. Even Steve
Royal, who prides himself in labor compliance outside of the U.S., says that
there is no way labor compliance within the ‘States can be competitive. The cost of living is simply too high.
If dealers and
manufacturers aren’t prepared for enormous inventory outlays, (replenished by
consumer purchases only a few months during the year), their businesses are
lost. If dealers don’t understand the
challenges of properly measuring, fitting, planning for potential growth
spurts, expectations for store inventory will be incorrect, customers will be
ultimately unhappy, overheads will soar.
Planning begins in
December of the previous school year.
Projections are made on previous years’ sales. Contracts with the schools need to be in
place. Orders begin in early
February. Measuring takes place in April
and May. June-July is high anxiety
delivery; August is purchasing.
During August, a
manufacturer has to have at least half again as much inventory in stock for
unexpected orders and/or, mis-calculated sizing. For the most part, once September has passed,
the industry is dormant. So is income.
Few dealers are
experienced with today’s “soccer moms.”
These are the tough, independent, demanding, educated, consumer-savvy
women who are strong advocates for their kids, have answers for
everything. Once they’re alienated, a
shop can go out of business; without the art, know-how, and finesse of handling
this particular group, an entire school contract can be lost.
There is only so much
business to go around. Even with an
ever-expanding marketplace, the more savvy manufacturers and dealers will
survive, the majority of them won’t. It
will be interesting to observe how the bigger department stores handle uniforms
as they become increasingly aware of all of the above. It will be equally as interesting to observe
how the private and public school markets will benefit and learn from one
another. At present, each is giving the
other a run for the money.
