Who supplies the clothes from

[lover454]

the 99 cent stores? I have tons of clothes from the 99 cent stores that I started purchasing in December 2007 for $.99 and $1.29. I dont buy any more clothes from these stores because I have tons and dont need any more and every thing that I have is hung up or folded and is neat and organized. All the clothes I have purchased when I was buying are in great shape and look like they came from expensive stores.

Any way now I noticed when you go to these 99 cent stores the clothes are all stained, torn, or just plain awful - they arent what they used to be.

But my question is: In the past and now who supplies the 99 cent stores with these clothes

[Mama Zappa]

Are you talking about thrift stores, such as Salvation Army or whatever?

If so, then the clothes are supplied by people who donate them (we frequently donate our no-longer-needed stuff there).

I'd suspect that the slim pickings you're seeing lately are largely due to the economy. Fewer people are replacing clothes that are still usable, because they don't want to (or can't) spend the money on new stuff - so there's less decent stuff to be donated. And more people are *shopping* at the thrift stores, so the good stuff gets snatched up quickly - leaving only the stained clothing.

[lover454]

No I am talking about actual 99 cent stores.

[Corcaigh]

If you're talking about the sort of shop I think you're talking about (they were called Pound £ Shops here, but since the Euro came in they're called discount shops), the items sold in them are either seconds that weren't fit to be sold in a proper shop, or they were in proper shops but didn't sell very well, so were withdrawn from the shelves and sent to the discount shops.

[lover454]

These are stores that sell clothes and some other items for $.99 or $1.29

[runner pat]

99 Cent Only Stores

[Dewey Finn]

Originally Posted by lover454

But my question is: In the past and now who supplies the 99 cent stores with these clothes

Companies like JC Sales are able to supply the dollar stores with new clothes that can be sold for a dollar or two. Such are the wonders of cheap Chinese production.

[lover454]

to runnerpat. Thanks. I went to their website and found email addresses and I emailed them what I posted on here

[Guinastasia]

You get what you pay for. No offense, but you're suprised you're getting 99 cent quality at a 99 cent store?

[lover454]

to Guinastasia - when I was purchasing the clothes at these 99 cent stores the ones I was buying (and still own) are top quality. Now they are crap

[panache45]

Originally Posted by lover454

to Guinastasia - when I was purchasing the clothes at these 99 cent stores the ones I was buying (and still own) are top quality. Now they are crap

Then you should be questioning what you got in the past. What you're getting now is what I'd expect.

[engineer_comp_geek]

Originally Posted by lover454

to Guinastasia - when I was purchasing the clothes at these 99 cent stores the ones I was buying (and still own) are top quality. Now they are crap

99 cent stores get their stuff from generally one of two places. Either they get cheap crap produced somewhere where labor is dirt cheap, or they get stuff on the surplus market. Shops overseas can pump out cheap crap on demand. Surplus stuff is more hit or miss.

I'm betting the earlier ones you bought were surplus. Either a company went out of business and stuff ended up on the surplus market dirt cheap, or maybe a factory had an order that was cancelled, or they overproduced to make sure they met a contract on schedule and dumped the remainder, etc. There's all kinds of reasons stuff ends up on the surplus market.

Sometimes if the surplus stuff sells like hotcakes (like the clothes probably did) and the store can't get any more, they'll get similar cheap imitation stuff (i.e. the crap you are getting now) and see how it sells. If it sells well they'll keep selling it. If not, then it will eventually disappear off of the shelves as well.

[lover454]

to engineer_comp_geek -Once in awhile I see people looking and some buying but mostly the clothes are not selling at all.

[lover454]

Some people have told me that the 99 cent stores get the clothes from dry cleaners because the clothes always came/come wrapped the same way one would pick up their dry cleaning - on a hanger with a clear plastic draped over the clothing item. But I wonder if that is true only because recently one of the managers of the 99 cent store told me he pays a lot for the the plastic.

But when you see the box that the clothes are delivered in the clothes are prewrapped in plastic

[ugly ripe tomato]

I worked at a department store for 10 years and unpacked a hell of a lot of clothes during that time. They were always packed with each garment folded and bagged individually, or each garment on a hanger with a thin plastic bag over it. It's to keep the stuff clean and dry during shipping. The bags are really flimsy and dead cheap to buy in bulk the way a factory does.

[lover454]

do any of you think that they will still sell the clothes or do you think the 99 cent store owners will stop selling them. Keep in mind hardly any one looks at the clothes and they are really crap now

[Guinastasia]

It was probably a one time thing. You could look in every so often to see if they have anything decent, but I'm guessing that the crappy stuff is the norm.

[lover454]

to guinastasia - when I was buying the clothes from December 2007 up until nine months ago the clothes were beautiful, now they are crappy.

[Raza]

Another possibility: the store was buying unclaimed freight containers and the ones they bought at that time contained decent clothing. Of course, this is hit-and-miss.

[Vinyl Turnip]

Pretty simple, really. Nine months ago would've been July 2011, when severe flooding took place in the country of Thailand, the world's top exporter of นี้เป็นเรื่องตลก, aka 99 cent clothing.

[Ludovic]

Originally Posted by Corcaigh

(they were called Pound £ Shops here

That reminds me of someone I know who grew up in the States near a shop called "Everything's a $1 dollar" (i.e. everything's a one dollar dollar).

[lover454]

In other words no one on here really knows where they get it from. Just to let you all know the managers of the 99 cent stores buy the merchandise from someone that brings in boxes and the managers of the 99 cent stores pay him. He is an independent contractor that they buy from. I just wonder where he (the supplier) gets it from.

[Corcaigh]

Originally Posted by Ludovic

That reminds me of someone I know who grew up in the States near a shop called "Everything's a $1 dollar" (i.e. everything's a one dollar dollar).

LOL

We used to jest that the Pound Shop was where you went to be beaten with a blunt instrument.

[Vinyl Turnip]

Originally Posted by lover454

In other words no one on here really knows where they get it from. Just to let you all know the managers of the 99 cent stores buy the merchandise from someone that brings in boxes and the managers of the 99 cent stores pay him. He is an independent contractor that they buy from. I just wonder where he (the supplier) gets it from.

If it's from a $1 store, I think I may see the flaw in his business model.

[Ludovic]

But he makes it up in volume.

[grude]

I used to buy old band tour shirts for a dollar each at a local grocery chain, the shirts were clean and new and in good condition just concert shirts from various bands all from old tours. I saw plenty of people snapping them up.