In America, during 2020, retail sales at
clothing, shoes and accessories specialty stores in the U.S.
totaled $196.5
billion, according to the Bureau of the Census.
In addition, Plunkett Research estimates that 80% ($88.2 billion) of
sales at department stores, as well as 60% ($30.6 billion) of sales at sporting
goods stores were for apparel and shoes.
Assuming that 25% ($221.0 billion) of the goods sold via e-commerce in
America consist of apparel, shoes and accessories, this would put the total
retail and online clothing, shoes and accessories market in America at $501.3
billion.
While Asia, particularly China, has enjoyed a
dominant position in shoes, apparel and household textiles manufacturing for
several years, makers of these items located in developed nations such as the
U.S.
and Canada have suffered a long period of decline.
For example, roughly 98% of the shoes sold in
America each year are imports, and the majority of these imports come from
Asia.
To consumers in Europe and North
America, this growing reliance on Asia as a low-cost producer has meant very
low retail prices for goods of reasonable quality.
However, recent increases in the cost of doing
business in China have put Chinese manufacturers in a much less favorable
position.
Competition from manufacturing
based in very low-cost nations in Africa, as well as Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri
Lanka, Mauritius, Malaysia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines and
elsewhere, is intense, and a large portion of apparel manufacturing formerly
done in China
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