Photo: Canva
According to the New York Times, Buck Mason, a clothing brand founded in 2013 in Venice, California, has recently purchased a sewing factory and cloth mill in Pennsylvania.
Apparently, producing the best possible T-shirt has been the goal of the brand’s founders since the company’s inception.
Currently, “Buck Mason sells almost a dozen different short-sleeve T-shirts, which start at $45. Over the past decade, the brand has also started to sell other basics like jeans, sweatshirts and button-up shirts on its website and at the 24 stores it has opened in the U.S. But T-shirts represent a sizable chunk of its business, accounting for about 30 percent of all sales.”
The founders of the brand explained that T-shirts are the gateway or entry point for consumers to start wearing the brand. Their factories produce approximately half a million shirts annually, and about 300,000 are made in domestic factories, with many of their fabrics also being made in the U.S.
This important aspect of their winning formula is paying off.
The New York Times cites loyal brand customers who own many Buck Mason shirts because they appreciate how many of the fabrics and shirts are made in the U.S. Even though some of their shirts are labeled as being made of fabrics sourced from other countries, customers also remark about how in comparison, the USA-made shirts have held up better for them in the long term.
Buck Mason’s new Pennsylvania factory marks the first of their fully owned (as opposed to contracted) production plants, and it has recently been responsible for their “most popular men’s T-shirt: a $45 crew-neck style made with a specialty cotton known as Pima (or Supima), with curved seams meant to follow the natural slope of shoulders and angular sleeves meant to flatter biceps.”
The Pennsylvania factory was previously owned and operated by the online style service Stitch Fix, and Buck Mason’s owners explained how the employees there had decades worth of talent that would have been lost. They were able to rehire some of the people who originally lost their jobs when Stitch Fix stopped operations, but one of the owners mentioned that “the dream” was to have 100 employees. Currently, only 17 people are employed at the factory and three at the mill.
Even if Buck Mason hasn’t yet reached that specific dream, this endeavor still keeps more jobs and opportunities available to American citizens. It also allows them to retain better product quality as they work toward their goal of creating what they consider to be the perfect T-shirt.
BrainTrust
David Spear
VP, Professional Services, Retail, NCR
Ryan Mathews
Founder, CEO, Black Monk Consulting
Christine Russo
Principal, Retail Creative and Consulting Agency
Discussion Questions
What other valuable retail insights can be drawn from the Buck Mason brand? Does the majority domestic production from this brand prove to be another indication that more “Made in USA” products are needed?
Poll
Loading …
It is hard to develop a strong USP in an essential category like T-shirts, especially when they are plain rather than featuring graphics. However, Buck Mason emphasizes quality, the thickness of the material, and texture. The company also emphasizes American made and this is a point of difference for some, especially as people tend to associate it with higher quality. However, the truth remains that most people don’t check where things are manufactured when buying clothing. So American made is a bonus or the icing on the cake provided everything else from design to style to price are right for the consumer.
“Made in the USA” products are definitely needed since for decades we have shifted manufacturing to lower cost countries. Excepting for some car plants-which have gone up in right to work states, outside of the UAW’s reach. Of particular interest here is the comments on the higher quality of the T-Shirts made here.
Anything that produces jobs that require a level of skill/expertise is a breath of fresh in my view!
Going to the Buck Mason Web site now!
As the founder of a yoga prop company-yogassists, I have been trying for years to find domestic manufacturing. I understand the margin impact but still believe domestic production is the future for consumers and the country. More brands should figure out how to collectively bring back factories to the USA.
Buck Mason is proving that quality + “Made in the USA” can equal a strong, viable niche business. Can a $45 t-shirt business scale? Probably not. But it can be a launch pad for other categories to come on stream to create a more efficient critical mass. Costs for USA based products are going to be high, so the quality level also has to be high for the value equation to work. I can only wish Buck Mason tons of good luck in proving the viability of “Made in the USA”. I’m checking store locations now.
I remember seeing them on Shark Tank – they are persistent that’s for sure – which means they have amassed a following. Business is not kind to DTC brands at the. moment and they face many headwinds. Adding this capex and opex seems like not the right move. However, if their loyalty grows and customers are sticky; then maybe it could work. Time will tell.
Made in the USA products will continue to have growing impact with a consumer segment. $45 t-shirts is niche and will have a hard time scaling. However, if the Brand continues to grow in recognition and manufacturing scaling can bring down the costs of jeans and other products then the brand has a solid future and can be a model for others.
Great story about Buck Mason and its high-quality products with ‘Made in the USA’ labels. We need more stories and companies that bring manufacturing back to the US. With a compelling value prop, a $45 price point can work, and I suspect Buck Mason Tees will be flying off the shelves.
Buck Mason’s “secret sauce” has little to do with where the clothes – especially the t-shirts are made. It has to do with thinking that something as basic and universal as a t-shirt can be redesigned and improved, that quality materials do matter, and that you don’t need to splatter your brand all over a shirt to sell it. The fact that they are produced domestically is a bonus without doubt, but if you are going to get people to shell out $50 for a t-shirt it better first fit and feel better than the $5 alternative.
I’m just glad my comment showed up next to yours!
A T-shirt, IMHO, is the most casual clothing item in general society. You wash the car in one. Go hiking in one. Wear it to a BBQ perhaps. But paying $45 for one is not something I’ve ever thought about doing. $7 at Walmart, $9 at Costco for a good one maybe. In checking the “Vote” on who on the Brain Trust has actually bought and worn one, it’s was 0%. I’m relieved to find that perhaps I’m not alone.
T-shirts are an American invention with immense popularity. However, each of us has many tees and they can certainly have a variety of quality levels and textures but many are of low quality. Buck Mason does have an opportunity to establish a higher standard for the T-shirt and provide new opportunities for consumers to re-think their approach to the quality/quantity approach to their wardrobe.
With all of the offshoring over the decades, we are slowly losing the ability to produce in various apparel areas like denim. It is key that some brands innovate and find a product/marketing approach that can serve the market with Made in the USA manufacturing and retain these capabilities for the long term.
$45 for a T-shirt ?!?! I think they’ve answered the question “Why can’t we make more clothing in the USA?” While I want to wish them well, I suspect the answer to the Poll question isn’t going to move much from zero.