Download the 2010 OC’s TOP 30 APPAREL COMPANIES LIST (pdf)
The top 30 apparel companies with operations in Orange County saw local employment stabilize in the past 12 months after bloodletting a year earlier, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The companies employ 9,642 people here, statistically un-changed from a year earlier. That was an improvement from the 8% drop posted by the largest apparel companies here on last year’s list.
The list, which ranks companies based in Orange County or with operations here by local employment, was expanded by five entries from last year.
The companies on this year’s list are coming off one of the worst industry downturns in recent memory with most cautiously optimistic as they enter the second half of 2010.
No. 1 Oakley Inc. held the top spot with a 3% gain to 1,666 workers in Foothill Ranch.
Oakley, which has an estimated $1.2 billion in annual sales, sells sunglasses, prescription frames, goggles, watches, clothing, shoes and accessories.
The company, part of Italy’s Luxottica Group SPA, is starting to see a turn in the market even as the mindset of the downturn lingers.
“There’s still some challenge in terms of price point with certain products,” said Raphael Peck, vice president of apparel, shoes and accessories. “There’s a lot of competition in our space, and a lot of sales (in stores). We haven’t really played that game. It’s a challenge in re-educating the consumer to pay full price. A lot of consumers are looking for value.”
Peck, who joined the company four months ago, said Oakley’s T-shirts, board shorts, stores and outlets are seeing more sales with average prices creeping up.
The company is making a push with technical products—clothing made of synthetic material for snowboarding, mountain biking, surfing and other sports. The effort includes an upcoming line with Olympic snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler.
No. 3 Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. was one of few companies to report layoffs, posting a 12.8% decline to 850 workers in OC.
Late last year, Quiksilver laid off 125 workers at its headquarters and elsewhere in Southern California as part of ongoing cost cutting. In all, 200 jobs were cut companywide including 75 vacant positions at Quiksilver, which makes clothes inspired by surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding.
The company spent much of 2009 restructuring after 2005’s $560 million failed buy of French ski equipment and clothing maker Rossignol.
Quiksilver sold money-losing Rossignol in a $50 million fire sale in late 2008 and struck a series of financing deals last year that kept the company afloat.
Last week, the company posted a profit for the three months through April of $15.7 million. That was more than double its profit from a year earlier and easily topped the $4.2 million analysts had expected.
Sales came in at $468.3 million, down 5% but easily topping the $455 million expected by analysts.
Hiring
For others, the industry uptick has loosened hiring freezes.
No. 10 Costa Mesa-based Volcom Inc. upped local employment by 7.8% to 318 workers here. The hiring took place at the start of this year, according to Volcom President Jason Steris.
The first half of this year still has been challenging at stores, Steris said. But things are starting to turn.
“Inventory levels are definitely in better shape than last year,” he said. “Accounts are slowly building back. You’ve heard that phrase ‘cautiously optimistic,’ and it’s being used by retail accounts out there.”
Volcom’s hiring is part of the company’s “build back” from retrenching in 2009. The company added two departments: a retail and in-store marketing group, and a planning and forecasting department, which handles sales forecasting and inventory planning.
“Everyone has to work harder to drive product through the store,” Steris said. “It’s not enough to ship the goods and hope they sell. We’re really working with our retail partners to help push product through the door and get it sold to consumers.”
No. 4 Cypress-based Vans Inc., part of North Carolina’s VF Corp., moved up a spot with the addition of 50 workers, bringing its local total to 700.
VF’s outdoor and action sports unit, which includes Vans, saw first-quarter sales of $678.5 million, up 9% from a year earlier.
Vans held its own in 2009 with a focus on teens and kids, President Kevin Bailey said.
“Parents sacrifice themselves first,” he said. “They spend money on their kids. Vans shoes are reasonably priced so that certainly benefited us.”
Vans has seen growth through its stores, mid-tier department stores, and surf and skateboarding shops, as well as other boutiques, according to Bailey.
The company’s seen “aggressive growth in its apparel division,” Bailey said, and added workers to its wholesale team, including designers and developers. Other hires were made in accessories, e-commerce and marketing.
Vans expanded its local distribution center, doubling its size and splitting its shoes and apparel businesses there. That created some jobs, Bailey said.
The company still is hiring, he said, but is cautious.
“The one thing that keeps me up at night is I never want to get to a place where we need to do layoffs,” Bailey said.
No. 6 Billabong USA in Irvine is estimated at 620 local employees.
Paul Naude, president of North America operations of Australia’s Billabong International Ltd., said there wasn’t any change in the number of employees here.
Business has stabilized after a challenging 2009, according to Naude. The company doesn’t have any immediate hiring plans “unless there are unforeseen changes in the business,” he said.
“Based on current trends, we could see slight improvement in the second half of this year,” Naude said.
The big gainer on the list was No. 13 Cypress-based Hybrid Promotions LLC, which moved up three spots from last year with a 45% gain to 220 local workers. It hired about 70 workers in the past year.
Hybrid, which makes its own line of T-shirts as well as clothes for retailers and under license for companies such as Walt Disney Co., saw the biggest employment gain by both percentage and actual number of workers added.
The company, which has yearly sales of $250 million, is expecting 40% sales growth for 2010, Chief Executive Jarrod Dogan said.
Retailers aren’t as conservative with orders anymore, fueling Hybrid’s sales growth, he said.
The company continues to hire and has a few high-level positions open, according to Dogan.
“We’re constantly looking for talent,” he said.
Another gainer was No. 14 Irvine-based Asics America Corp., the U.S. arm of Japan’s Asics Corp. The athletic shoemaker saw a 22% rise to 202 local workers.
Rest of List
Of the 30 companies on the list, 14 were estimates. Of those that did report, nine added workers, two cut and five were flat.
The expanded list’s five newcomers: No. 15 Cypress-based Manhattan Beachwear LLC, a swimsuit maker with 200 local workers; No. 21 Morgan Hill-based Fox Head Inc.’s Irvine office, which has an estimated 100 local workers; No. 26 Santa Ana-based M.L. Kishigo Manufacturing, a maker of safety vests and other products with 90 local workers; No. 28 Irvine-based Silver Star Casting Co., a maker of clothes inspired by mixed-martial arts with an estimated 85 local workers; and No. 30 Costa Mesa-based Rvca Clothing, a maker of clothes inspired by surfing and skateboarding with 60 local workers.
Gomez is a former Business Journal editor and freelance writer based in Long Beach.
