Posted on Sun, Jun. 04, 2006

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Sock makers' message: Buy American
N.C. manufacturers pitch in for new I-40 billboard
JEN ARONOFF






A new billboard on the westbound side of Interstate 40 heading into Hickory wants you -- to purchase American-made socks.

About 20 sock manufacturers, almost all of them from North Carolina, pitched in for the 44-by-14-foot sign, which shows Uncle Sam clutching a pair of socks, reads "Save our sock industry" and encourages shoppers to look for American-made socks.

A similar billboard went up in Greensboro in early May, and the mills hope others will follow, said Jim Schollaert, who coordinated the campaign and serves as the sock makers' advocate in Washington.

The companies hope the signs will also spur people to consider how U.S. sock manufacturing affects communities -- by providing jobs, tax and utility revenue, and supporting a middle-class way of life.

"If you go to the store to shop for apparel, you're going to have an extremely hard time finding a blouse or a dress or a T-shirt or underwear or a pair of khakis made in the USA, but you can still find socks," Schollaert said. "So it's not too late to save our sock industry."

In recent years, however, American sock makers have been undercut by a flood of cheap imports, particularly from China, Schollaert said. In 2000, domestic mills supplied 73 percent of the nation's sock market. Now, that number is about 30 percent.

In that same time, North Carolina -- the nation's leading sock-producing state -- has lost roughly 9,000 hosiery jobs, according to the N.C. Employment Security Commission. More than 1,600 of those cuts have come in the Unifour, one of the centers of the N.C. sock industry.

Sock producers say they've long been adapting manufacturing and machinery to stay afloat, competing with specialty products and fast turnaround times.

"We've had to fight to maintain jobs in the U.S. market here," said Kevin Huitt, the president and owner of Huitt Mills, which has plants in Hildebran and North Wilkesboro. "The business was very largely made in the USA by small, family-run companies up until five or six years ago."

Though the billboard is perhaps the most visible reminder of sock makers' efforts to keep the domestic industry afloat, they have also been working for more favorable trade policies.

New limits on Chinese sock imports began in late 2004 and will last until the end of 2008, and a new rule that took effect in March requires all socks sold in the U.S. to list the country of origin on the front, next to the size.

At least one marketing study has found that only about one in five Americans seriously weighs country of origin when considering whether to purchase a product, and companies have long argued that consumers make up their minds based primarily on price.

But manufacturers note there's usually very little difference in retail price between imports and American-made socks.

"We're hoping to get the average consumer to be more aware of it," said Ronnie Brittain, president of L&R Knitting, a Hickory sock maker. "(We want to) get the consumer to look for the "Made in the USA" and have a little patriotism, to a certain extent."

Have a Tip?

Call Jen Aronoff at (82 324-0055, e-mail jaronoff@charlotte observer.com, fax (82 327-3480 or mail it to Catawba Valley bureau, P.O. Box 2464, Hickory, NC 28603. Jen

Aronoff


http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/n ... 737566.htm