Buying Centers
Buying Center A buying center is a central district in a city where fashion businesses sell products to retail buyers What is the importance of these centers?
Buying Centers Terminology Market Week: major times scheduled by fashion producers to show fashions to the buyers with different categories scheduled for different weeks Mart: a building that houses thousands of showrooms for specific merchandise categories
New York Buying Center Over 5,000 fashion showrooms $14 billion in annual sales ($12 billion in wholesale sales) Fashion Center Business Improvement District: program organized to improve the quality of life and strengthen the economy of the Garment District of NY NY Fashion International: addresses needs of companies exporting goods
New York Buying Center The Fashion Walk of Fame: sidewalk on 7 th Avenue recognizes designers who established NY as a fashion capital –What names do you think would be found there? –What do you think the criteria is for gaining recognition of the walk of fame?
New York Buying Center Fashion Center Banners: bears garment district button logo are draped on district lampposts
Los Angeles Buying Center The Los Angeles Fashion District is the largest concentration of fashion- related businesses in western US 1800 showrooms in California Market Center Generates over $8 billion in revenue
California Market Center (CMC) 1,800 showrooms 10,000 product lines 3 13-story buildings 5 major market weeks Two textile markets LA gift and home markets Market days Fashion weeks
The New Mart California’s exclusive contemporary and young-designer apparel marketplace Features designers from NY, California, and Europe
Dallas Buying Center World’s largest wholesale merchandise resource with nearly 7 million square feet of available space $7.5 billion in estimated wholesale transaction Home to FashionCenterDallas, a 1 million sq ft buying center has 550 new permanent show rooms
Dallas Buying Center Focus Sportswear Western wear Jewelry Gifts Decorative accessories
Other Buying Centers Chicago: Merchandise Mart and Chicago Apparel Mart, 300 wholesale showrooms for apparel and accessories Atlanta: America’s Mart with 3 buildings with exhibit space totaling 4.2 million sq feet features home furnishings (primary market), better apparel and sportswear lines
Other Buying Centers Miami: Features more 300 showrooms, known for moderately priced sportswear, including cruise wear, swimwear, and lightwear sportswear, and children’s wear, accessible to apparel production centers in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean