Friday, November 19, 2010

Garment District News Watch: Wall Street Journal Article

Bryan Derballa for The Wall Street Journal

"Garment District Frays" is the headline of a Wall Street Journal article published today:
"Not far from Times Square in Manhattan, reams of fabric and rows of buttons still line the corridors of West 38th and 39th streets in the Garment District.The area, once full of the city's top fashion houses and garmentos who sewed buttons and stitched patterns for the city's retail shops, has been shrinking for decades."
I wish I could say it's an optimistic piece and that zoning issues are being actively resolved to the benefit of garment district businesses. Read the entire article by Shelly Banjo here. You might want to stop postponing that future shopping trip to NYC's Garment District….

3 comments:

  1. I think the real culprit here are the manufacturers who sent the production of the goods offshore. Once those jobs were gone, there was no longer a need to keep all of that space which has subsequently made it harder for the houses that did stay.

    I remember working in the garment district in the 80s and it is vastly different than it is today. I really hope that we don't lose any more of the production facilities, the designers or the fabric stores that are presently stored there. But you know that money drives everything, so who knows how this will play out!

    And thanks for the link to the article, it was very interesting!

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  2. I think you are right Carolyn. I for one have think that in this depressed economy there is need for manufacturing jobs in USA even though the cost would be higher, but not greater than cost of just being a consumer and not a manufacturing nation .
    I remember the made in USA labels you don't see that anymore.I'd be willing to spend a more on garments made in america and support our nation then getting clothing at truly ridiculously low prices from other sources.There was always pride in garments made in america how do we find that voice again?

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  3. I never worked in the district but I've been shopping there for more than 30 years and it's just not the same. It's definitely shabbier and I can't remember the last time I saw a rolling garment cart being wheeled down the street.

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