Raj Swim saw swimsuit orders slow, so it ramped up production for something new: masks in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Tustin-based firm, among the country’s largest swimsuit manufacturers, is one of a growing roster of Orange County companies looking to plug supply gaps in personal protective equipment (PPE) and help flatten the coronavirus infection curve.
It’s a quick switch for the company, which makes swimwear under its own labels, in addition to brands such as Splendid and Ella Moss.
“As a family business in Orange County for over 50 years, our employees are very important to us,” said Chief Operating Officer Bira Bhathal. “Once order cancellations started coming in for swimwear, we decided to pivot our business model to help solve a national crisis, while also keeping our workers employed and paid.”
The company is one of several local manufacturers addressing the PPE supply shortfall. Among apparel makers, Brea-based sportswear firm AST Inc. is making masks as part of a consortium linked with the federal government, while Irvine-based luxury knit house St. John Knits recently began producing gowns for doctors and nurses. Companies that have made the pivot to making hand sanitizer include Blinking Owl Distillery of Santa Ana, Mission Viejo-based Smart Cups LLC and SeneGence International of Foothill Ranch, which was featured in the April 6 print edition of the Business Journal.
Addressing Demand
Raj Swim hasn’t furloughed any employees and expects to use roughly 100 people at its Tustin facility, Bhathal said. It also has large manufacturing sites overseas.
The company posted to its Instagram account in March about its face masks and demand jumped with orders hitting nearly 1 million since that social media announcement.
Bhathal said the masks are available to purchase by the public and businesses. A 10-pack retails for $11 on the company’s SwimSpot online shop.
Raj Swim founding family, the Bhathals, also donated some 20,000 masks to Sacramento as part of a relief package from the Sacramento Kings.
Raj Bhathal started the swimwear maker with wife, Marta Bhathal, in 1967 and went in with a group in 2013 to buy the Kings. In addition to their sizeable stake in the basketball team and its new arena, the Golden 1 Center, the family has extensive real estate holdings in Sacramento.
Their children, Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, took the reins of Raj Swim in 2007, with the brother-sister duo now focused on Newport Beach-based Raj Capital LLC.
Raj Swim has seen several changes to its ownership structure since 2007; the Bhathal family now controls the company.
Business Adjustments
Like many other businesses, Raj Swim’s workforce has had to make adjustments in light of the shelter-in-place order and closure of non-essential businesses. Some of its staff in departments such as sales, marketing and design are working from home.
Slack and Zoom are used to maintain communication across the company.
“Even from home, the staff is working hard as a team to pivot the business and save our swimwear season,” Bira Bhathal said.
Other workers in production, the warehouse and SwimSpot have been placed on a staggered schedule and adhere to social distancing guidelines while at headquarters.
Sewers on the production line work from every other sewing machine, creating about 10 feet of distance between each worker. All are wearing PPE.
Production is expected to continue to ramp with the company having gone from producing 4,000 masks per week to 30,000. That’s expected to rise even further to some 200,000 units in the future. The expectation is millions of masks can be produced, according to Bhathal.
Businesses are proceeding amid uncertainty over when the virus reaches its apex and the state’s shelter-in-place order is lifted, making it difficult to provide projections. Raj is no different.
“We are focused on helping the community and keeping employees working,” Bhathal said when asked about the virus’ impact on the business.
“Profits and sales growth will come another day when things start re-opening.”
