It’s hard to believe that a single sweatshirt has forced its maker to expand its business into four new factories within the last year to meet the demands of people as reported in businessinsider.com; and this causes me to want to hear from people who may have purchased this sweatshirt and may want to give a review of its quality, form and anything else interesting about it for those who don’t know about the sweatshirt.
In my opinion this is fantastic that a U.S. made product is making such a big hit…I feel so proud. We need more American manufacturing in our country and I believe the product will improve American buying at the stores when it reads made in the U.S.A.
It’s a zip-up hoodie sweatshirt that’s made by San Francisco startup American Giant and it costs $89. It has only been on the market for a period of 10 months and a December 2012 Slate article declared it as “the greatest hoodie ever made” and the sales began to explode.
The explosion increased the sweatshirt orders requests to soar until there was a backorder waiting list that grew to as long as four months; and people continued to place their orders for it regardless of how long it took to get it.
American Giant at the time had one factory and that was in Brisbane, California; and the company has now expanded into a factory in Los Angeles and three more in rural North Carolina outside of the Raleigh area.
American Giant CEO Bayard Winthrop stated in an interview with Business Insider, “We’ve been chasing demand the entire year;” and “In September they were back in stock and the rate of buying soared up by four times.”
American Giant’s expansion into the new factories led the company to begin to sell t-shirts, sweatpants and a women’s line; thus, the demand for the sweatshirts have not slowed down any. The hoodie is currently sold out of most of its sizes and colors.
Winthrop said, “We’re absolutely throttled down on manufacturing;” and “We’re maxing out all of our capacity at all of our factories.” “As much as they can give us, we’re taking.”
In my opinion I wanted to know exactly what this hoodie had to offer and businessinsider.com delivered the information that I wanted.
The sweatshirt weights more than two pounds and the fabric is 100% cotton with a feel of about three times thicker than the majority of sweatshirts. It has a ribbed paneling along the shoulders and sides helping create a tailored look and eliminating the boxy silhouette of most hoodies. Bayard is the designer of it and they spent about eight months with the design with the help of former Apple engineer Philipe Manoux and world-renowned pattern designer Steve Mootoo.
One reviewer wrote… ”This sweatshirt is worth the wait, and it is at an awesome price too. I’m considering to ordering more so I can stock up for the rest of my life, but I’m not sure this one will ever wear out.”
The beauty of the sweatshirt is it’s made in the U.S. and of a quality that will last.
The company is advertising that its “bringing back American manufacturing” and they’re pledging to never outsource jobs overseas again. It can afford the higher labor costs in the U.S. because it’s a direct-to-consumer business and they avoid expensive overhead associated with brick-and-mortar stores.
Winthrop has said in order to keep the costs down; he doesn’t plan to open any pop-up shops, like many e-retailers have done. He hasn’t made any investments in major marketing campaigns, and saying, “The sweatshirts have been selling by word-of-mouth;” and the company offers $15 for referrals to help the process.
I’m writing this article for those who love sweatshirts and likes one that keeps its shape and because, “I love U.S. made products.”
Barbara Kasey Smith wrote this article based on an impressive businessinsider.com article based on a U.S. company manufacturing sweatshirts that caused them to open four new factories within a year. This news is fantastic for U.S. made goods…allowing readers see how American made goods rate.