Friday, October 28, 2005

TIME TO FALL BACK - Remember to set your clocks back 1 hour before 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 30 when Daylight Savings Time ends.

HISTORICAL HOSIERY HAPPENINGS:
October 29, 1965 – Shoe Size-Hosiery Size Chart Developed and Issued by NAHM for Socks and Anklets
A recommended voluntary standard showing the relationship between the size of socks and anklets and the size of shoes was issued by the Association this week. It is entitled “NAHM Shoe Size/Hosiery Size Chart.” It is hoped that it will be helpful to hosiery manufacturers and the trade in bringing about greater uniformity and serving as a guide to those who prepare such charts for their customers and for consumers.

October 30, 1970 – The Midi Backlash: Its Effect on Men’s Wear
The great midi-mini confrontation in women’s wear is having some important side effects on the men’s wear industry. The fashion environment of men’s wear includes women’s wear. What women wear for particular occasions affects what their male companions wear for the same occasion. Resistance to the midi has created a women’s pantsuit and jump-suit trend, mostly in knits, including some formal ideas for the evening. Alongside these outfits, even blazers and shaped suits can look dated. And this may hasten the male shift into softer, body contour clothing.

NEED EMPLOYEE HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS? Give them a unique piece of hosiery history.
Whether it’s employee gifts or those who were involved with the hosiery industry, learn more about the exciting events that have transpired in the hosiery industry in the last 100 years. Purchase copies of The Hosiery Association Centennial: In Step With The Industry For 100 Years. This is the only commemorative publication that captures the Association’s 100-year history of leaders, events, programs and services. Information on how to order is available on our web site. There are a limited number of copies available so they will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Act promptly as orders are being filled weekly. These make unique gifts and are only available through THA. Requests to have the author, Sally Kay, sign your copy are also being taken via the order form. Visit www.hosieryassociation.com or contact THA staff at 704-365-0913 to obtain your history book order form.

2006 CHA Luncheon Sponsorship opportunities are still available. If your company is interested in sponsoring any of the 2006 CHA luncheons, please contact Mike Austell at 704-365-0913 ext 204. Call early before all dates are taken. All luncheons are held on the 4th Thursday of the month and alternate between Hickory (Jan, Mar, May & Sept) and Greensboro (Feb, Apr, Aug & Oct).

Hosiery 101 & 102 Courses will be offered again at the Hosiery Technology Center in Hickory, NC on November 9 & 10. For further information, visit www.legsource.com. Classes cost $60 each and the deadline for registering is one week prior to the class dates.

THA Credit Group Meeting: The next meeting of the Credit Group will be on Thursday, November 17 and will be held at the Lyon Credit Services office in Charlotte, NC. For information about this group, contact Jeanna Sheldon, staff liaison, at 704-365-0913 ext 203.

AL Chapter Monthly Luncheon: The next luncheon meeting for the Alabaman Chapter will be on Thursday, November 17 at the Western Sizzlin’ in Fort Payne, AL. Stay tuned for program information as it becomes available. FRONTIER SPINNING MILLS will be the sponsor of this meeting, and a special Thank You goes out to them.

THA Industry Executive Summit/Board Meeting will be held November 17-18 in Charlotte, NC. As THA officially turns 100, Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NPD Group and one of the leading business strategists will conduct a thought provoking, challenging planning session for hosiery industry executives. This invitation only event will offer its participants an exclusive setting to share industry concerns and network with their peers. The Board of Directors meeting will follow the leadership summit. Seating is limited for this session. Please contact Sally Kay at 704-365-0913, ext. 212 sally.kay@hosieryassociation.com if you are not on the THA Board and would like to attend.

October 27 CHA Suppliers Luncheon Featuring Student Panel in Greensboro Huge Success!

CHA’s 47th Annual Meeting will take place on Thursday, December 1 at The Sawtooth Building in Winston-Salem, NC. The program will feature a panel of hosiery company CEO’s that will share their insight as to what is keeping them competitive in today’s business environment. Everyone is invited to attend this great networking opportunity…you don’t have to be a CHA member to participate. Registration information will soon be available on THA’s website. We would like to also thank UNIFI INC for again sponsoring this meeting!.

AL & TN Chapters Christmas Party will be held at The Chattanoogan in Chattanooga, TN on Friday, December 9. Additional information on this event will be forthcoming.

THA’s 101st Annual Convention- April 27-30, 2006 at Desoto Hilton in Savannah, Ga.

Hosiery In the News: The Washington Times plans to begin a series of manufacturing based stories in December. Hosiery will be one of the categories featured. The Wall Street Journal has begun the preliminary stages of developing a story on ladies hosiery and legwear products.

Kathy Ireland hosted a fashion show and gala in Conover , NC raising $60,000 for the Habitat for Humanity, Katrina Relief Fund and Lenoir-Rhyne College Scholarship. John Moretz of Moretz Sports and Ireland proudly announced that the Kathy Ireland™ Socks® shipped their millionth pair of socks recently. In addition to socks, the Kathy Ireland™ apparel, jewelry and home furnishings were featured.

Corn Socks Headed to Japan- According to today’s Charlotte Observer, Fox River Mills, Twin City Knitting, Harris & Covington and WY Shugart & Sons are looking to Japan to find a new niche -- and to preserve U.S. jobs. These mills will soon travel to Japan to sell a sock made from corn syrup. The sock is woven from corn starch fiber, or Ingeo, which the company says means "ingredients from the earth." It disintegrates after it is buried in a compost heap. Ingeo, and the sock project, is the brainchild of NatureWorks LLC, which is based in Minnetonka, Minn. It's a unit of Cargill Dow, a joint venture of agricultural giant Cargill Inc. of Minnesota and Dow Chemical of Michigan. NatureWorks, which processes renewable resources such as plant sugars, had approached The Hosiery Technology Center in Hickory to find a way to make corn socks. The hosiery center, at Catawba Valley Community College, found a way to weave the fiber into a sock and process it for softness so its texture isn't harsh on the skin. The center, which works to help sock firms compete globally, recently received a $397,000 U.S. Department of Commerce grant to promote U.S. socks in foreign markets such as Japan, Singapore, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. On November 8, the group including mills, Carolina Mills (who spins the fiber into yarn), Department of Commerce officials will pitch this new sock to reporters and retailers. Additionally, Miss USA Chelsea Cooley of Charlotte, NC will be present. Thanks again to JBT Legwear and Sara Lee Hosiery for providing the legwear product to accompany Miss Cooley’s wardrobe during the event at the US Embassy.

National Textile & Apparel Team Office of Textiles & Apparel, USDOC PIEDMONT TRIAD CHAPTER - NCWTA USDOC EXPORT ASSISTANCE CENTER - GREENSBORO PRESENT CAFTA-DR & CHINA SAFEGUARDS TUESDAY , NOVEMBER 15th - GREENSBORO HIGH-POINT MARRIOTT HOTEL: The hotly debated FTA, covering Central America and Dominican Republic, has been signed into law. Are you fully up to speed and in compliance with CAFTA requirements - avoiding possible penalties and profit threatening duty payments? Or, are you missing out on the opportunity altogether because of the complexities of qualifying your goods? Do you want to be current on the status on on-going consultations with the Chinese relative to a broad agreement with China on textile quota issues?

Join us, along with Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles and Apparel Jim Leonard, Customs Attorney Jon Fee, Dr. Nancy Cassill, College of Textiles - NC State University, Sally Kay, President, The Hosiery Association and Mike Hubbard, Vice President, National Council of Textile Organizations for a comprehensive conference in order to take full advantage of these issues. US Commercial Industry Speciliasts from the CAFTA/DR countries will be available during the event. To arrange an appointment with the CAFTA/DR specialists, contact George Thomas @ 704-333-4886, ext. 223 or email: george.thomas@mail.doc.gov. GO TO: http://www.ncwta-triad.org/cafta-dr.php for details and registration form.

Small Banks Lobby Congress For Retailer Relief: Target Corp. owns an industrial loan corporation, or so-called industrial bank, that could provide commercial banking services to retail customers. Wal-Mart recently applied to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to open an ILC in Utah. But legislation before the U.S. House Banking Committee would bar industrial banks not attached to financial companies from conducting business across state lines. Small bankers are putting the heavy sell on committee chairman Michael Oxley in an attempt to block the ability of large retailers to provide customers banking services unless 85 percent of revenues are derived from financial services. Similar self-protection legislation was pushed through the U.S. House by small bankers in 2003, but stalled before becoming law.

Gap Brand Names New Head of Design: Gap Inc. announced that Charlotte Neuville is joining the company as Executive Vice President of Design and Product Development for Gap brand. Ms. Neuville will oversee all aspects of product design and development for the brand's adult men's and women's apparel and accessories and will report to Gap President Cynthia Harriss.

Federated Identifies Six Additional Stores for Divestiture: Federated Department Stores, Inc. said it has identified an additional six duplicate stores in Arizona, California, Indiana, Kentucky and New Hampshire it intends to divest commencing in 2006 as a result of its merger with The May Department Stores Company.

Wal-Mart's Expansion Plan Calls for Opening up to 600 Stores: Wal-Mart Stores Inc chief financial officer Tom Schoewe has announced plans to open as many as 600 stores worldwide in 2006. The expansion of the world's biggest retailer in terms of sales will include 270-280 new supercenters in the US. Tighter competition and surging fuel prices have affected Wal-Mart's local sales growth this year. However, plans for the new stores show that the company remains bullish over its prospects in the country, where chief executive Lee Scott said business "could be three or four times bigger".

October Sales Outlook: According to Merrill Lynch, it is estimated that department store comps in October are tracking at the lower end of its plan of 2% and 4% (vs. up 6.1% last year) through the first three weeks of October. Luxury department store comps (Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue), which they estimate will increase 4% to 5% (vs. up 7.6%) should be the best positioned for a strong October, benefiting from both the pent up demand for fall fashion and their belief that the more affluent customer is less sensitive to the higher gas prices. Dollar stores comps in October, which they estimate will be flat to up 2% (vs. up 2.4% last year), should continue to be negatively impacted by pressure on low income discretionary spending from high gas prices, heavy debt burdens and the highly promotional environment in the "hard discounter" space. They believe that dollar store sales are tracking at the low end of plan month to date. Weather for the first three weeks of the month was less favorable (warmer) than last year (weather favorability is forecast to be down 4% for the month according to Planalytics), which they believe has negatively impacted consumer demand for fall and winter apparel. After four months of abnormally warm weather, it is believed that the last week of the month should trigger a release of pent up demand for fall fashion. Weather favorability is estimated at up 29% during the final week.

Retailing-Specialty: Survey Says: Price and Value Are King: Merrill Lynch surveyed employees via the Internet and asked twelve questions, some more basic and some specific to the holiday season. Close to 1,100 responses were received. Holiday Impact- The results support our cautious holiday outlook with 50% of respondents indicating they shop for deals over the holidays not styles or at specific stores. Price and Quality are Most Important. When asked directly what do you shop for...The majority of replies cited price and quality not style or brand. Department and Specialty Stores Rank High. Respondents cited both department and specialty stores as the place they shop for apparel. A range of apparel that was split fairly evenly among weekend, business casual, formal business and accessories. Income and Economy Drive Planned Flat Spending. Respondents indicated that income and the economy (for some one in the same) are the most important influences to spending and that planned holiday spending for 2006 was flat. Entertainment and Men Fare Worst. When the budget needs to be cut entertainment and men get the first hit. Children and teens tie for last as expected. This should bode well for those retailers focused on these segments. Favorite Retailers Focused on Value. Of those respondents that cited a specific retailer of choice the overwhelming percentage were value based retailers or retailers where value can be derived (Gap or department stores by buying on sale)- further hitting home the importance of the value equation. Holiday Outlook. Industry Apparel sales up 3.8%.

Is fashion too fickle? Last week Tom Ford, the former Gucci designer, attacked the fashion industry, saying that rapid introduction of new trends is leaving consumers confused and putting them off buying clothes - but is he right? YES, SAYS CLARE COULSON: What will you be this winter? A scowling goth in a floor-sweeping black skirt and high-necked Edwardian shirt? A mini-skirted Mod with kohl-framed eyes and kinky boots? Or a Hitchcock heroine with blood-red lips, pussy-bow blouse and a body-hugging pencil skirt? The reality is that you probably won't be any of the above because while the fashion industry creates a dizzying, unrelenting flurry of trends, most of us are wearing the same thing year in, year out. Tom Ford's recent assertion that fashion now moves too fast sounds like the dismissive words of a man who has made his mark (and his money) and moved on to pastures new (in his case, the film industry). Ford is far too clever to make sweeping statements without foundation; this is the man who ruled fashion in the late 1990s and invented the concept of the modern, ruthlessly branded fashion label. And he is right - fashions now come and go so fast that only the most ardent fashion victims can keep up.

U.S. Seeks Data on Chinese Protection of Intellectual Property: U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman announced this week in Geneva that the United States has initiated a special process under WTO rules to obtain information on China's intellectual property enforcement efforts. "The United States is deeply concerned by the violations of intellectual property rights in China," Portman said. "Based on all available information, piracy and counterfeiting remain rampant in China despite years of engagement on this issue." Japan and Switzerland have joined the United States in submitting similar requests, according to the USTR press release. The new U.S. initiative takes advantage of a process established under Article 63.3 of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS Agreement”), which allows WTO members to request information pertaining to judicial decisions or administrative rulings on IPR-related matters when their rights under the TRIPS Agreement are affected.

WTO: Trade Growth in 2005 to Slow from Record 2004 Pace: Lower economic output, brought on in part by the sharp rise in oil prices, will slow world trade growth in 2005, according to the WTO report International Trade Statistics: World Trade Developments in 2004 and Prospects for 2005. World merchandise exports are expected to grow by 6.5 per cent in 2005, markedly less than the 9 per cent growth recorded in 2004. WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said that, while the growth in trade for 2005 will remain satisfactory, the way to create more opportunities for trade and adjust global trade rules through the successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda round of global trade negotiations.

Commerce Secretary Gutierrez Offers Program to Help Eliminate Corruption and Bribery in Central America: Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez recently announced that the U.S. will help El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in their existing efforts to stamp out bribery and fight corruption by extending the Good Governance Program to the three countries. Gutierrez said the Program complements the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Gutierrez called corruption, lack of transparency, and a weak rule of law “invisible taxes” that raises the cost of doing business. The Commerce Secretary also said he will deploy a U.S. team in coming weeks to work with the private and public sector in each country to gather recommendations to seek the best way to get the governance programs up and running over the next year. Gutierrez was in El Salvador on the final leg of a 19-U.S. member business delegation that he led to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador--the first since the passage of CAFTA in August.

U.S.-Andean Trade Talks Proceed at Accelerated Pace: A U.S. trade official said that the previous round of negotiations toward a proposed U.S.-Andean Free Trade Agreement produced a broad consensus that trade talks should proceed at an accelerated pace, and negotiators should intensify their efforts to resolve impediments to the trade pact. At a background briefing October 21, the official explained that negotiators hope to "take advantage of a November window of opportunity" -- a reference to the next negotiating round of talks scheduled to take place in Washington during the week of November 14. Although he stopped short of predicting that the November talks would be the final round, the official suggested that negotiators were aware of the need to make rapid progress on several fronts. As agriculture is often a delicate matter in trade talks, the United States is negotiating separately with each of its Andean trading partners to craft a workable arrangement, the official explained. In response to a query about intellectual property rights, he noted that Andean proposals are under consideration, and labor issues are also at the forefront of negotiations.

The contents printed in this document are informational in nature. They are gathered from various industry sources and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or actions of THA.

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