California Apparel News

Business was good for the exhibitors at the Offprice show, held Feb. 15–18 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Longtime exhibitor Frank Kashani, with Impulse Los Angeles, said opening day of the show was very good with much of the turnout from Kashani’s existing customers.

“Maybe 20 percent are new customers,” he said.

Kashani, who also shows at Offprice’s New York edition, was bullish on the offprice market overall.

“Business is improving,” he said. “Of course, there’s lots of competition. It matters what merchandise you have.”

Patti Luner, director of sales for swim manufacturer InGear, was also upbeat about business.

“All of our clients are coming in,” she said, adding that retailers were looking at juniors swimsuits and coverup styles as well as the company’s swim sets.

“We are the actual manufacturer, so it’s beneficial for us and for the retailers. They get the best price,” she said.

In addition to the OffPrice show, where InGear sells excess inventory, the company also exhibits at WWDMAGIC, where it shows better lines and licensed collections.

“This is the time of year for Immediate goods,” she said. “At this show, they see this body and that print, and they can get it right now.”

Los Angeles–based blank T-shirt maker Sun Active was at the show for the first time at the request of several of the company’s clients, said Dana Alami, who was working the booth with her father, Sam Alami, who owns the Los Angeles–based company.

Dana Alami said the company was seeing a few prospective customers but not as many as they’d like. The Sun Active booth was tucked into a hard-to-find location at the show, and Alami said she hoped to get a better location at the next show.

Ed Bernard, founder of Bermo Enterprises, described the show as “phenomenal” but added that the Las Vegas show was part of a busy month for his Schoolcraft, Mich.–based offprice business.

“For us, the show puts together almost a month-long event,” he said. “Two weeks before the show, aggressive companies will shop our showroom in New York and our website. And a week after the show, we also get a lot of activity. We had so much activity before the show that we knew it was going to be good.”