The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Clothier opens 1st U.S. facility
Jordan-based casual clothing manufacturer Classic Fashion invests $4 million in the plant
Classic Fashion, a Jordan-based maker of sportswear and casual clothing for Walmart, Target and other big retailers, has opened its first U.S. production facility in Santa Ana.
The company signed a fiveyear lease at 1939 S. Susan St. for a 12,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and 7,200 square feet of warehouse space. It will initially employ 125 workers but expects to expand to 350 employees in the next five years.
Classic Fashion invested $4 million in the new facility, which already is in operation and expected to be in full production by mid-november, company officials said.
Walmart, which named Classic
Fashion a general merchandise Supplier of the Year in 2018 and 2020, hosted a ribbon cutting for the production/warehouse plant Thursday. The apparel company said it earned that title by adhering to Walmart’s strict compliance, quality, performance and sustainability goals.
The company said it chose Santa Ana for its first U.S. manufacturing site because of the city’s skilled workforce.
The clothing industry, like scores of others, has been heavily affected by supply chain delays during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eighty-nine percent of fashion executives polled in a February survey from Statistica said the rising cost of raw materials would impact their supply chain throughout the year and 85% expect that to continue into 2023.
The survey also showed 87% of respondents were concerned about increased shipping costs, 79% were worried about port delays and disruptions and 78% said they were impacted by temporary vendor shutdowns.
Other top concerns were centered around the availability of raw materials, consumer demand volatility, international trade tensions and changes in consumer preferences.
Classic Fashion was established 20 years ago and has supplied products to Walmart for 16 years. Most of the company’s clothing — including swimwear, golfwear, jackets and jeans — is marketed under the private-label brands of its customers.
In addition to the biggest retailer in the U.S., the client list includes Sam’s Club, Target, J.C. Penny, Adidas, Kirkland, Nautica,
American Eagle, Hanes, Reebok and Tommy Hilfiger, among others.
In an industry that’s been plagued by wage theft, Classic Fashion says it pays the prevailing minimum wage with overtime allowances. The company says its production environments are “healthy and productive with popular music of the choice of the workers played in a volume level that is pleasing to the workers without being a disturbance to their work.”
Sanal Kumar, Classic Fashion’s chairman and managing director, offered some perspective on the company’s partnership with Walmart in a statement released in May 2021.
“I started my operations in 2003 and Walmart joined me in 2005,” he said. “Since then, we have grown in leaps and bounds. And today I have over a $300 million relationship with Walmart.”
Kumar said as much as 45% of $628 million in business revenue for 2021 came from Walmart.