Monday, August 28, 2006

This edition of the Hosiery Insider
is sponsored by
MorOil Technologies

HOTEL RESERVATIONS CAN BE MADE NOW by calling the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina (CHR&M) directly at 843-856-0028 or 888-856-0028. The CHR&M reservations office is open from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. (Eastern). In order to get the Convention Rate of $199/night, make sure to identify yourself as being with THA. Reservation cut-off date is at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 26, 2007. Don’t delay, make your hotel reservations for THA’s 102nd Annual Convention – Thursday, April 26 – Sunday, April 29, 2007 at the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina.

EXHIBIT at THA CONVENTION: THA SUPPLIER MEMBERS will be provided an exclusive opportunity during the 2007 Annual Convention. SUPPLIERS that are members of THA will have a chance to gain great company exposure and networking opportunities with hosiery company decision makers. These supplier companies will be able to occupy their own display table and feature their product samples, information, have give-a-ways, etc. The exhibit times will be held in conjunction with the Continental Breakfasts and Breaks during General Sessions on Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28. Complete Exhibit information will be available soon and “booths” will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested in exhibiting, please email vicki.camp@hosieryassociation.com so you can be contacted regarding specific exhibit information when it is available.

The password to enter the MEMBERS ONLY portion of THA’s website will expire soon. All members will be provided with a new password. Please make sure you have renewed your membership so you will still be able to access this section and vital THA information.

If you know of someone in your company who would also like to receive Hosiery Insider, please email us at insider@hosieryassociation.com. Please provide complete contact information, especially email address.

THA Membership – 3rd & FINAL NOTICES are being mailed today. Companies whose dues are not paid by September 30 will be resigned automatically. Please don’t let your membership with THA lapse due to non-payment of dues. Mail your dues payments in as soon as possible to avoid being resigned as a THA member. Thank you to all those companies who have paid their 2006-2007 dues!

Hosiery Association Trade Reference Interchange: THA is in the process of teaming up with Lyon Mercantile Group to offer our members a Trade Reference Interchange on a six-month trial basis. There are no upfront fees, on subscription fees and no obligation to purchase reports. This is an excellent opportunity for Hosiery Member Credit Managers to share their industry-specific customer payment experiences with one another in a secure environment. Participating Hosiery Members will be issued a user ID and password to access reports via Lyon’s website. We are excited about this new benefit for THA Hosiery Members. A link to Lyon Mercantile Group is now available on THA’s website – Member Section. If you have questions or need more information, please contact Karen Smith at Lyon Mercantile Group at 800-272-4183.

Seamless Apparel Consortium working group has been meeting regularly during the past several months to develop a comprehensive education and informational program for the retailing community to better understand the features and the benefits that seamless apparel offers the consumer and how it can make them more successful in their business. For more information, be sure to look in the September/October issue of Hosiery News magazine.

THA’s Offices will be Closed Monday, September 4 in observance of Labor Day. THA wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday weekend. Our offices will reopen on Tuesday, September 5 at 7:30 a.m.

SPECIAL OFFER: THA Members Offered Special Rate to Attend the 2nd Annual AAFA/VCF Retail Vendor Synchronization Conference – September 6-7 at the Glenpointe Marriot Hotel in Teaneck, NJ.

Register online at www.vcfww.com and enter promo code AAFAMbr906 to get The Hosiery Association member rate of $399; otherwise the conference rate is $599 for non-members. The Glenpointe Marriot is offering hotel accommodations at a room rate of $179/night and can be reserved by dialing 1-800-228-9290 and reference the AAFA/VCF conference – this special rate expires on August 22. Industry leaders like Paul Charron, Chairman & CEO of Liz Claiborne Inc. will speak on “Trading Partner Relationships;” learn proven techniques to help prevent deductions that will improve your bottom line results; learn the tactics of “Fast Fashion: Zara & Beyond” during the second keynote address by Steve Hochman, Research Director for AMR Research; develop thought provoking compliance solutions with your peers during the Open Forum and Roundtable networking events. For additional information, email Mary Howell at mrhowell@apparelandfootwear.org or Kim Zablocky at kzablocky@tpcww.com.

Have you registered for THA’s 2nd Annual Industry-Wide Golf Tournament scheduled for Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at Birkdale Golf Club? Birkdale is in Huntersville, NC, just north of Charlotte... click here. GROZ-BECKERT will be the major sponsor for this event. Additional sponsors include: Fiber & Yarn Products, Frontier Spinning, Globe Express Services, Henderson Machinery, HIFOMACO, Ken Smith Yarn Co., McMichael Mills, PAM Trading/PAF Sales, RadiciSpandex, Regal/Worldtex, R. L. Stowe Mills, Swift Spinning and Unifi. Those interested in a sponsorship should contact Mike Austell at THA. Special thanks to the sponsors already committed to this event.

Hosiery Insider Sponsorship: Do you want a cost effective venue for communicating your messages to thousands worldwide? Sponsor the next issue of Hosiery Insider. For details, contact Mike Austell at 704-365-0913 Ext 204 or mike.austell@hosieryassociation.com.

THA provides Members Web Based Commercials – Visit THA’s home page, www.hosieryassociation.com and experience the MAGIC/WSA video. This technology is available to you and your company. Contact the THA office for details at 704.365.0913.

VISIT OUR BOOTH #OD 20945: Sourcing at MAGIC. In conjunction with SEAMS, the Hosiery Technology Center (HTC)and The Hosiery Association (THA), the nine hosiery companies and seven apparel makers have joined together to secure exhibit space at the 2006 MAGIC show in Las Vegas - where as you know each year thousands of retailers come to find the products that they want to offer their customers. The nine hosiery companies are Johnson Hosiery, WY Shugart, Kentucky Derby Hosiery, Twin City Knitting, Wells Hosiery, Knit Rite, Wrights Hosiery, Fox River Mills and Angel Hosiery. The apparel manufacturers are A.S. Tees Mfg., Carolina Apparel Group Inc., Creative Outlet, Cal Cru, Kellsport, Vinci Clothiers and Ultimate Sports and Apparel. Check out these company exhibitor profiles in the current issue of Hosiery News. Thanks to the following sponsors for their financial support of this initiative: Contempora Fabrics, Inc., Fiber and Yarn Products, Inc. and T & T Liquidators and Transcal Graphics.

Gildan Announces Relocation and Consolidation of U.S. Retail Distribution Centres - Gildan Activewear Inc. announced Tuesday that, as part of its overall plan to integrate its recent acquisition of Kentucky Derby Hosiery, it is investing approximately U.S. $7 million in a state-of-the-art 400,000 square feet retail distribution centre in a leased building in Martinsville, VA. The new facility is located approximately 15 miles from Gildan's distribution center in Eden, NC.

The installation of equipment in this facility, together with associated warehouse management information systems, is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of Gildan's 2007 fiscal year. Gildan plans to close Kentucky Derby Hosiery's existing distribution centers at multiple sites in Danville, VA and Mt. Airy, NC during the first half of fiscal 2007, and offer employment at the new facility to all of Kentucky Derby Hosiery's existing employees currently based at these locations.

The relocation and consolidation of the retail distribution centers will result in improved operating efficiencies and lower transportation costs, as well as faster customer response times. In addition, it will provide additional capacity for future growth in retail sales as Gildan implements its strategy to position itself as a full product-line supplier of athletic socks, underwear and activewear for the mass-market retail channel.

Imported knitting machines exported to China – (KARACHI) On August 23, the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers Association (PHMA) has disclosed that some of its members are exporting a large number of European brands knitting machines to China after failing to face the onslaught of frequently rising cost of inputs. The association has brought it to the notice of ministries of commerce and textile industry in a letter addressed to their secretaries. The PHMA pointed out that it had learnt that around 150 world renowned brands of knitting machines from Germany had been exported to China after their owners failed to run their units owing to rapidly rising cost of utilities -- gas, electricity, water, etc.

The association said further that Chinese importers were welcoming such imports, as these high-tech machines were not available in China owing to special metallurgy involved. It said the Chinese were further modifying these machines electronically. The PHAM feared the country would suffer huge losses by such move and warned that many more such cases would crop up with each passing day, as more knitting units having a large number of machinery, including circular knitting and stitching machines, dyeing and processing machines, would be closed down.

ASAPShow – Authority in Global Sourcing – Two Shows, Two Cities, One Trip, for One Price. ASAP Vegas – August 27-30 and ASAP Los Angeles – September 1. They have extended their show hours from 9:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. the first three days and will be 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on the last day. Overseas apparel manufacturers will be showcasing their production (sourcing, contract manufacturing, outsourcing) capabilities to international buyers all under one roof at the Sands Expo/Venetian. For more information, go to www.asapshow.com.

Accessories The Show will be held again August 28-30. For additional information, visit www.accessoriestheshow.com.

AAFA’s Restricted Substances Seminar is important for all the factories that supply you, and for all of the materials and components’ firms which sell to them. Encourage your factories to participate and make sure their supplier factories attend as well. You are only as good as the weakest link when it comes to problems with restricted substances. Seminar will be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Dongguan China on September 21. All sessions will have simultaneous translation from English to Chinese or Chinese to English as appropriate. To register go to www.apparelandfootwear.org (English) or www.acafa.org (Chinese). Registration fee is $100 and no refunds will be given after September 1. For additional information email Leanne Wieczorek at lwieczorek@apparelandfootwear.org.

NC State University’s 2006 Continuing Education Schedule: Upcoming sessions for September include: “Color and Dyeing” – September 26-29 – topics to be covered include: basic wet processing steps, dyestuff properties, lab dip techniques, and basic color theory as applied to shade matching and evaluation. Most of the courses are held on NCSU’s Centennial Campus. To view the entire 2006 schedule or if you are interested in registering for one of these courses, visit www.ContinuingEducation.NCSU.edu.

Material World Show – Material World will have one more show in 2006: September 26-28 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York, NY. “From Design to Delivery, the Premier Global Trade Event for the Sewn Products Industries.” Additional information can be found at www.material-world.com.

Export Financing Solutions – The US Department of Commerce is offering a one-day workshop on your principal export financing solutions. Learn how to compete globally. Topics to be discussed include: Methods of Payment, Letters of Credit, Incoterms, Role of the International Freight Forwarder and Legal Aspects of Export Transactions. The seminar will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm September 27 at the Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, NC and again on September 28 at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. To register, please visit: www.buyusa.gov/northcarolina/exportfinancingsolutions.html. Space is limited and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Paris Hilton is about to be entered into the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records for being obnoxious. She earned the dubious distinction of being the most overrated celebrity on the planet. A Guinness spokesperson said that the ranking was based on a survey of popular magazine polls in which readers voted for the most overrated celebrity. Hilton won hands down almost every time.

18 year-old Supermodel Lily Cole scored straight A's on her high school final exams and has been accepted to Cambridge. Cole, who already earned about $20 million dollars as a model, is said to be willing to put her career on hold to pursue academics full time. The flaming redhead has often been compared to the young Kate Moss. However Moss only finished junior high school and her best mark was a C. Cole will study social and political sciences at King's College, Cambridge.

The Internal Revenue Service of the United States sent shock waves through the promotional industry when it announced plans to start taxing celebrity swag bags. There is no Red Carpet loophole a spokesman humorlessly explained. The industry basically shot itself in the foot when it started to publicize the value of giveaways lavished on celebrities at awards and other key events. The bags became increasing generous as marketers tried to get stars to be seen with their products by giving them away for free. The bounty routinely included luxury trips, jewelry and electronics. Last year the bags given out to presenters at the Academy Awards were estimated to be worth around $100,000. Others typically ranged from $20,000 – $50,000 dollars. The Motion Picture Academy has since announced that it will discontinue the practice of gift bags and other major events are sure to follow or be forced to include tax forms in with the treats.

The contents printed in this document are informational in nature. They are gathered from various industry sources and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or actions of THA.

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