Apparel Industry Insights - February 2025

Marks, Canada’s second-largest apparel specialty retailer, with 383 stores, reported that its sales decreased 0.6% during 2024, despite a 2.4% sales increase in Q4. Gains in men's casualwear and children’s apparel/footwear were offset by a decline in Marks industrial business.
Gildan’s sales in the U.S. during 2024 increased 1.9%, while its sales in Canada decreased 4.3%. In total, Gildan’s sales for 2024 increased 2.4%.
Unisync, a Toronto-based manufacturer of corporate apparel and protective clothing, reported its sales for its 2024 fiscal year decreased 13.3% to C$89.8 million.

Canadian retail apparel sales through the first 11 months of 2024 were down by 1.4%. Both women’s sales (2.6%) and men’s sales (-0.5%) decreased. The only men’s (+6.3%) and women’s (+3.1%) category that registered any growth was outerwear.
Sales on only Canada’s apparel specialty stores increased 7.8% in December and by 1.5% for all of 2024.
Canadian apparel exports increased by 4.2% in 2024, while exports to only the U.S. and China increased 1.0% and 45.4% respectively.
Canadian apparel imports increased by only 0.4% in 2024. Exports from both Vietnam (+6.8%) and Cambodia (+11.6%) increased faster than those from China (+0.4%) and Bangladesh (-0.2%).
Canadian apparel manufacturing sales decreased by 2.8% in 2024 to C$2.32 billion.
Canadian foreign tourism (x-U.S.), which contributes to luxury apparel sales, increased 5.7% in 2024, but was still 15.0% less than in pre-Covid 2019.

Saks Global, the US$10 billion luxury apparel retailer, announced that effective Feb. 15, 2025, vendors' invoices will be paid 90 days after the delivery of goods. Invoices currently outstanding will be paid in equal parts over the next 12 months. Trendex estimates this policy will affect less than 4-6 Canadian apparel suppliers.
The Nordstrom family and Mexico’s El Puerto de Liverpool at the end of December 2024 announced that by mid-2025 they collectively would take Nordstrom private. (Nordstrom family will own 50.1% and Liverpool will own 49.9%.) Liverpool operates 124 full-line stores and 188 Suburbia stores. Suburbia has always been referred to as the JC Penney of Mexico, while Liverpool’s position in Mexico is similar to the upmarket positioning of Nordstrom stores. As such, Canadian apparel manufacturers who are currently working with Nordstrom should have an opportunity to become a supplier to Liverpool.

U.S. retail apparel sales increased 2.4% in 2024, after rising by just 0.7% in 2023.
Total U.S. apparel imports increased by only 1.7% in 2024 to US$79.3 billion. The three most important countries were China (20.8%), Vietnam (18.9%), and Bangladesh (9.3%).

Note: The above information is excerpted from Trendex’s Canadian Apparel Insights 5-page monthly newsletter.