The World’s Cheapest Clothes, Cheaper Than Even Wal-Mart. How Does Steve & Barry Do It?
The most basic dresses at J. Crew start at $58. At American Apparel, they start at $26; at Old Navy, $19.50; and at Forever 21, some styles cost $15.80. The least expensive dress on the Wal-Mart Web site is $14.92.Prices at Steve & Barry’s (a clothing chain where everything costs less than $10) are actually dropping — the $8.98 threshold for dresses (pictured above) was introduced as a holiday promotion last year, but remains with no set expiration. Meanwhile, the company’s sales at locations open at least a year, a crucial indicator of retail health, have increased more than 20% each month since January.
The question on everyone’s lips: How does Steve & Barry's make a decent dress or a jacket, with sleeves, or a pair of functioning shoes for $8.98?
Find the answer here in the NY Times.
HT: Division of Labour
7 Comments:
You know what really makes me mad. There are people who are angry at this and will say its because all clothing is made from sweatshop labor. So, just to summarize. When prices are high (gas and food) its price gouging, when prices are low (electronics, clothing) its because of sweatshop Chinese labor and when prices are all the same its price fixing.
By the way, I never understood why liberals complain about jobs going to China. I mean aren't those Chinese people human? Do they not matter? And I thought the liberals were the ones that cared about having a good foreign policy. What do you think an ordinary Chinese person would appreciate more, a US president coming to the country for a visit or a US company coming to the country and giving him a job that allows him to make a better living than he has ever dreamed of?
I do not know about the rest of the clothing line, but the jeans they sell at Steve & Barry are not worth the $10. You can rip the jean fabric just by putting your hands in your pocket. The jeans look nice, but they are not going to last any decent amount of time.
Thats fine anonymous, don't buy them. This is a FREE country. Noone is forcing you to buy anything. But don't force the company to do something just because you want better quality jeans. If people wanna buy the jeans, even after you said they suck, they should be free to do so.
I read the Times article, but it didn't say how they do keep their prices so low. Yeah, something about "razor-thin profit margins" but how do they keep their margins thin (beyond having crummy offices) and why don't other stores do the same thing?
I need to figure out how to get my wife to the Steve and Barry web site.
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I like Steve & Barry. I think it's great that people can choose what they want and choose the price for their wishes.
I haven't bought jeans at Steve & Barry's, but Target jeans are around $15 and I have some pairs I've worn for years and they have held up fine. Cheap doesn't necessarily mean low-quality.
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