Carhartt History:
Hamilton Carhartt was born in 1855 in Macedon Lock, New York. He grew up in Southern Michigan and his entrepreneurial style was reflected in the modifying of his last name by adding an extra "t" to ensure he would stand out from other businessmen. He initially established a furnishing business which would continue to drive his ambition to succeed and lead him to create his own products.
With some helpful advice from his first potential buyer, he realized his products had to be different. After talking with a railroad engineer, he created an overall garment specifically for the railroad worker which had never been made before. Hamilton Carhartt founded his namesake company in 1889 and began making work wear with a single goal in mind: Set a standard of excellence to which all others would aspire. Starting with only 4 sewing machines and about 5 employees, the first products manufactured were overalls in duck and denim fabrics. By traveling from town to town and visiting each railroad division, he was able to establish himself in the overall business. With entrepreneurial vision and determination, Hamilton Carhartt established a brand that has stood the test of time.
The Great Depression had a devastating effect on Carhartt resulting in only three plants remaining in the U.S. after 1930. Hamilton and his son Wylie established the "Back to the Land" campaign leading to the joint opening of the Irvine, Kentucky operations with the towns people of Irvine. Carhartt's Manufacturing Administrative offices are still located in Irvine, Kentucky today.
They grew throughout the early 1900's establishing more than 17 plants and three mills throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. "From the mill to millions" was their motto and was reflected in their operations which included cotton production, denim mills and apparel manufacturing facilities. Carhartt Master Cloth was designed and woven especially by their mills for use in Carhartt garments and was pledged to be the best cloth that could be produced.
Hamilton Carhartt passed away in 1937 at the age of 82. Today, his company remains a family owned operation committed to the mission of providing Best-in-Class apparel for the active worker. "I believe that when a man wears an article that I manufacture, his self-respect is increased because he knows that it is made by an honest manufacturer, who is honest with his employees" - Hamilton Carhartt
Real workers don't leave home without first donning their Carhartts. The clothing company makes rugged overalls, flame-resistant workwear, outerwear, sweatshirts, sportswear, and pants favored by farmers and other hard-working people. Its products have even appeared in such films as The Perfect Storm and The Horse Whisperer. Most of Carhartt's items, sold to men, women, and children, are made in US factories; the rest are produced in Canada and Europe. Besides its own shops, Carhartt's apparel is carried by major chains, including Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's, and international retailers in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia. The family of founder Hamilton Carhartt owns the firm, which was founded in 1889.
Sponsorships: 1. FFA- Carhartt has been a National Sponsor for the FFA since 1997. Proudly sponsoring the Home & Community Development Proficiency Award, Carhartt recognizes improvement of the home, farm or community through beautifying, modernizing, sanitizing or creating labor saving devices.
The National FFA Organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. There are 461,012 members and 7,308 chapters in FFA representing all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
2. B.A.S.S-Carhartt has been a National Sponsor for the FFA since 1997. Proudly sponsoring the Home & Community Development Proficiency Award, Carhartt recognizes improvement of the home, farm or community through beautifying, modernizing, sanitizing or creating labor saving devices.
The National FFA Organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. There are 461,012 members and 7,308 chapters in FFA representing all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Competitor’s:
1. Levi Strauss- Longtime apparel maker Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&CO.) has jeans in its genes. A global manufacturer of brand-name clothing, LS&CO. sells jeans and sportswear under the Levi's, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss, and Denizen labels in more than 110 countries. It also markets men's and women's underwear and loungewear. Levi's Red Tag jeans, department store staples and once the uniform of American youth, have expanded outside their niche to markets beyond the US. LS&CO. has further transformed its products portfolio to include wrinkle-free and stain-resistant fabrics used in making some of its Levi's and Dockers slacks. The Haas family (descendants of founder Levi Strauss) controls LS&CO. 2. Williamson Dickie Manufacturing Company-Appreciated by the working class and the sophomore class, Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing makes Dickies-brand khaki pants, bib overalls, jeans, women's and children's apparel, and Workrite safety uniforms. It also makes apparel and footwear for work and outdoor use under the Kodiak and Terra names. Its work clothes, originally tailored for the blue-collar set, are in fashion with young people, who account for a growing portion of sales. Its products are sold worldwide by major retailers (such as Searsand Cabela's) directly to businesses, in its own Work Authority stores, and online. The company was founded in 1922 by C.N. Williamson and E.E. Dickie as U.S. Bib Overall. It is owned by the Williamson family.
3. Columbia Sportswear Company-Gertrude Boyle is called chairman and, occasionally, one tough mother. The octogenarian and face of Columbia Sportswear's "tough mother" and "tested tough" ads heads one of the global powerhouses in the development, marketing, and
distribution of active outerwear. Columbia's trademark Bugaboo parka with weatherproof shell put the company on the map in upscale outdoor wear. Columbia offers performance apparel for a variety of activities, as well as sportswear accessories, boots, and rugged footwear, sold under brands Columbia, Mountain Hardwear, Sorel, and Montrail. Founded as a hat company in 1938, Columbia Sportswear is controlled by the Boyle family and run by president and CEO Tim Boyle, son of Gert.
Carhartt (Work In Progress):
Carhartt Work In Progress (Carhartt WIP) is the avant-garde way of living the Carhartt brand, reshaping the outstanding Carhartt legacy. In 1889, Hamilton Carhartt founded the Carhartt company in Detroit. His first products were work overalls made of denim fabric and duck, commonly called canvas. This later became Carhartt´s trademark fabric. Since the early years the brand became dedicated to providing “Best In Class” apparel, tailored to meet the highest standards of quality, durability and comfort. Old World Success: Carhartt’s success story in Europe begins in 1994, when selective products from the popular US workwear brand were authorized outside of the American continent for the first time under distribution by Work in Progress. The authentic Carhartt workwear products quickly became popular with both fans of traditional US heritage garments and people from to the nascent urban culture and urban sports scene in Europe. The success was immediate. European riders, graffiti writers, and MCs recognized Carhartt’s straightforward and rugged clothing as an authentic expression of their style. The first product range designed
exclusively for Europe followed in 1997. The original workwear cuts were re-interpreted and refitted for the demands of an active life in the urban environment true to Carhartt’s core values: outstanding design combined with exceptional quality, durability and comfort.
New World Legacy: Although Carhartt’s history in Europe now exists over more than a decade, this is only a fragment of the brand’s long and rich heritage. The origins of the Carhartt brand are in the USA and date over 120 years back. Since the foundation in America’s grand industrial city Detroit, the brand has been dedicated to a mission of providing “Best In Class” apparel for the active worker. Tailored to meet the highest standards of quality, durability, and comfort, Carhartt’s unique pants and jackets have always been made from denim and brown duck – a hardwearing cotton canvas fabric. Today, Carhartt is one of the largest outfitters for tradespeople in the US where it enjoys a legendary reputation as the garment of choice for craftsmen from every field.
Streetlife: During the late 80s, clockers and sprayers took Carhartt clothing to the streets. It may sound strange, but it makes sense. Spending a lot of time outdoors, they needed to keep warm while they also had to carry a lot of gear – circumstances under which a durable, lined canvas jacket with roomy patch pockets, such as the Carhartt siberian parka, appeared the most smart choice. Hip kids striving to copy this new look adopted the style making it the hip thing to wear. From there, it was a short way into the wardrobes of rap stars and hip hoppers, and the look slowly became a part of the urban subcultures connected to their music.
Carhartt’s main focus is providing the best clothes for the worker. In Europe, Asia, Japan and Australia – export countries where the brand gained in popularity in connection with the subcultures – its licensee Carhartt Work In Progress has been dedicated to further exploring the brand’s urban lifestyle character. Founding: Founded in 1994, Work In Progress initiated a distribution network for Carhartt across Europe, introducing a selection of classic products from the original work wear range into a new market. Success was immediate; the authentic Carhartt products quickly became popular with both fans of traditional US heritage garments and with the nascent European urban culture scene. The first product range designed exclusively by Work In Progress for Europe followed in 1997. Since then, under license and never without the expressed consent of the company HQ in Dearborn, Michigan, Carhartt WIP has carefully adapted, re-interpreted and re-fitted work wear cuts for the demands of an active life in the urban environment, remaining true to Carhartt´s core values: quality, durability and comfort and becoming the globally respected contemporary brand that is today. Urban Lifestyle Start: Carhartt Work In Progress is not only known for being a reliable supplier of admired textiles but also for its dedicated support of artists, musicians, and riders. Since its very beginning, Work in Progress has closely involved Carhartt with the European skateboarding and BMX scene, aiding in showcasing the scene’s cultural diversity and creativity. Despite other appearances, the scene in Europe is a fiercely independent group wary of being exploited by marketing departments. But Work in Progress’ honest engagement to their cause has managed that Carhartt gained deep respect from even the most hardcore skate activists. The brand’s support includes lobbying work on various levels. It consists of creating partnerships
with many of the main skating and BMX events in Europe as well as supporting local scenes over many years, helping skateparks to develop and persist, and much more.
Competitors: 1. Stussy: Private clothing company started in 1980 by Shawn Stussy in Orange County California. The brand is one of many that benefited from surfwear trends and culture. The early success has been attributed to the word of mouth advertising and limited quantities. The brand was worn on many hip hop artists as well as punks, hipsters, and skaters in the 90s. Today it is a staple in urban streetwear and is always expanding. It currently is headquartered in Irvine, California and has 60+ stores expanding throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. 2. Supreme: In April 1994, Supreme opened its doors on Lafayette street in downtown Manhattan and became the home of New York skate culture. At it’s core was the rebellious young skaters and artists who became the store’s staff. Supreme grew to be the embodiment of the downtown culture, constantly re-inventing it. Skaters, punks, hip hop heads all gravitated towards Supreme. Over its 19 year history Supreme has worked with some of the most talented artists, designers, photographers and musicians all who have helped shape the urban brand.
Product/Consumer Segments When researching a product with such a wide array of customers and so many different marketing tactics I chose to use MRI plus. The specific categories I selected were Men and
Women’s Clothing (Adult). Under men’s clothing I noticed that 99% more men than women bought men’s clothing, and in the women’s category 179% more women than men bought men’s clothing. Although this may seem obvious it was something that I wanted to touch on because people buying clothes for others is something to consider when thinking about forms of advertisement and marketing. In the category of women’s clothing the age group that buys the most clothing is 45-54, which is 3% higher than our target market of 25-34. The occupation for women that most commonly bought clothing was women that have office jobs, or sales jobs and the region that bought the most was the mid-west. Women that are divorced/widowed/seperateed are the most common customers and are 2% more common customers than married women, and 19% higher than women who have never been married. Finally the last basic statistics show that the most common customers by race are caucasian and the most common customers based on income are the ones that earn $500,000 or more a year. In the men’s clothing summary men aged 45-54 are the most common customers and are 2% more likely to buy clothing than men aged 25-34 which is our target market. The occupation that purchases clothes most frequently are businesses, management and financial operations. Interestingly enough this occupation is 25% more likely to purchase than men with sales occupations which was the occupation category with the most frequent customers for women. Alaskan and American Indian men buy clothing the most and behind them are asian men by 5% and white men by 8%. Surprisingly men who have a home value of $200,000-$499,000 are 3% more likely to buy clothing than men who have a home value of $500,000. Men that watch Fuel TV, and ESPNU are 52 and 49% more likely than an average male to purchase clothes, the TV
type that has the highest percentage is Golf and the website with the highest percentage is MLB.com.
Target Market- Young Adults: There is a brand that is almost unheard of by 90% of Americans-this brand is Carhartt Work in Progress. I believe that Carhartt Work in Progress is a brand that can become very popular and a front runner in the young and hip warm indoor and outdoor clothing markets, while focusing mainly on the outerwear. The market is currently split into three obvious parts. The first being the fashionable expensive brands that focus on a high income market, the second is the streetwear market that focuses on a young target willing to spend more for style, and the last the is the average consumer just wanting outerwear mainly for comfort. Although I did not show above The North Face, this is another brand that is very well known, like Carhartt, that is doing collaborations
with popular modern culture brands like the two listed above. Before the time comes where more brands have filled the gap, Carhartt Work in Progress can be marketed to a large portion of young adults both men and women with the correct advertising and marketing. In my opinion what the brand has going for them is a large following because of their history. This history allows the brand to be very well known for durability and comfort, and if they can capitalize on style added to this the younger market will be very interested.
Time Spent Chart: 1. College Students
2. Teenagers
Bibliography
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Thompson, Derek. “How Teenagers Spend Money”. The Atlantic, April 2013. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/04/how-teenagers-spendmoney/274949/ (12 Apr. 2013)
Thompson, Derek. “Your Day in a Chart: 10 Cool Facts About How Americans Spend Our Time”. The Atlantic, June 2012. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/your-day-in-a-chart-10-cool-facts-abouthow-americans-spend-our-time/258967/ (25 Jun. 2012)
“About Us”. Carhartt, 2013. http://www.carhartt.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/AboutUsView? langId=-1&storeId=&catalogId=10101
“About”. Supreme, 2013. http://www.supremenewyork.com/about
“Stussy”. Wikipedia, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stussy
“Fall 2012 Product, Apparel and Accessories, Men’s Clothing Summary”. MRI Plus 2012. http://ureporter.mriplusonline.com/selectdemo.asp
“Carhartt Inc. Company Information”. Hoovers, 2013. http://www.hoovers.com/ company-information/cs/company-profile.Carhartt_Inc.1e4419c76b7f54e7.html#?