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 7th 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