# Who supplies the clothes from **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 23, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702 "2012-04-23T16:25:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lover454](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@lover454](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lover454)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/1 "2012-04-23T16:25:38Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/2 "2012-04-23T17:04:23Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![lover454](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@lover454](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lover454)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/3 "2012-04-23T17:06:51Z")
No I am talking about actual 99 cent stores. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/4 "2012-04-23T17:54:28Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![lover454](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@lover454](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lover454)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/5 "2012-04-23T17:56:35Z")
These are stores that sell clothes and some other items for $.99 or $1.29 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/6 "2012-04-23T18:03:39Z")
[99 Cent Only Stores](http://99only.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/7 "2012-04-23T18:19:01Z")
> [@lover454](#): > > But my question is: In the past and now who supplies the 99 cent stores with these clothes Companies like [JC Sales](http://www.jcsaleswholesale.com/) 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. ---
**Author:** ![lover454](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@lover454](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lover454)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/8 "2012-04-23T20:22:38Z")
to runnerpat. Thanks. I went to their website and found email addresses and I emailed them what I posted on here ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/9 "2012-04-23T21:14:22Z")
You get what you pay for. No offense, but you’re suprised you’re getting 99 cent quality at a 99 cent store? ---
**Author:** ![lover454](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@lover454](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lover454)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/10 "2012-04-23T21:17:07Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/11 "2012-04-24T00:14:05Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/12 "2012-04-24T00:25:00Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![lover454](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@lover454](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lover454)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/13 "2012-04-24T00:29:53Z")
to engineer\_comp\_geek -Once in awhile I see people looking and some buying but mostly the clothes are not selling at all. ---
**Author:** ![lover454](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@lover454](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lover454)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/14 "2012-04-24T00:35:11Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/15 "2012-04-24T01:22:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![lover454](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@lover454](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lover454)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/16 "2012-04-24T01:26:36Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/17 "2012-04-24T06:57:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![lover454](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@lover454](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lover454)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/18 "2012-04-24T15:01:07Z")
to guinastasia - when I was buying the clothes from December 2007 up until nine months ago the clothes were beautiful, now they are crappy. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/19 "2012-04-24T17:12:22Z")
Another possibility: the store was buying [unclaimed freight containers](http://www.buyshippingcontainer.org/unclaimed-shipping-container-auctions/) and the ones they bought at that time contained decent clothing. Of course, this is hit-and-miss. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702/20 "2012-04-24T18:00:31Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-supplies-the-clothes-from/619702.md?page=2)