THE BIG INTERVIEW
They came they saw, they
D
ickies is riding high. The leading UK manufacturer of workwear, safety footwear and safety/protective clothing is not only the label of choice for urban streetwear fans, it is now establishing a loyal following throughout Europe. From workwear basics to the edgy, fashion-orientated ʻDickies
22ʼ range (introduced two years ago), the company has perfected the art of delivering tough, durable and affordable workwear. Dickies is not only fit for purpose, it looks great too and with its new focus on contemporary styling, it is winning a new generation of fans.
Keen to capitalise on its recent growth, Dickies has added a 30,000ft extension to its 100,000ft warehouse in Somerset, providing capacity for a much larger stockholding. The company is working hard to ensure that all of its UK distributors (BTC activewear, Ralawise, PenCarrieUKL and Prestige) can meet the growing demand. And on the retail side, Dickies is now available at some 5,000 plus outlets in the UK and Ireland with rapid expansion into Europe.
Dickies recently improved warehouse automation to cope with surges in demand and a 24 hour pick and pack operation is improving customer service levels. A new PPE range and the promise of new additions for the 2012 catalogue are all guaranteed to keep Dickies at the top of their game, along with the growing embroidery and bespoke side of the business. 2010 was a difficult year for the apparel industry but Dickies has bucked the trend, handling some 7 million items last year alone! Customers returned to buying core basics, with demand extremely strong, although because of the solid relationship the company has with its manufacturers, it ensured that the supply chain wasnʼt broken. Dickiesʼ European operations are seeing strong turnover and growth and the 2011 product range – which offers more than 300 workwear items – can only help to consolidate that success. “We havenʼt seen a downturn. Weʼve increased business,” a bullish Maurice Morton told me. “Weʼre also taking on sales
| 38 | August 2011
conquered
…We’re not talking about the Romans! We’re talking about iconic workwear brand, DICKIES, whose huge success in America is being mirrored in the UK and across Europe. DEBBIE EALES visits Dickies’ Somerset HQ to meet marketing and sales manager, MAURICE MORTON and corporate director, JUDY CLAY.
A
teams in Europe.” He attributes the growth to the strength of the brand and “well planned selling”. “We have got a very wide range of products,” he continues. “But we have also looked at whatʼs needed for the German and French markets and have developed products for them.” While customers continued to buy workwear throughout the recession, many reverted to traditional garments in basic fabrics. Comments Maurice: “There was definitely a return to traditional products and there was certainly a downturn on corporate demand for products but the following year, we found ourselves in a position where we were struggling to supply because the demand came back so strongly.”
number of factors determined the supply situation but notably it is the worldwide shortage of cotton yarn; this had been caused by the floods in Pakistan and their failure to be able to re-plant the next crop, Chinaʼs decision to ban cotton imports due to a shortage of agricultural labour as workers migrated to the towns for better wages after last years downturn in demand from the Western World, and also Indiaʼs decision to ban exports of cotton.” He goes on: “Last year, we found ourselves in a very difficult situation where supplies were down to about 60% order fill. Itʼs now back up to 97%. However, we were very much in tune with the market, and I also think that the wholesalers, like BTC, found their strength because they had good stocks of our product to start with. “Last year, in particular, we were keeping an especially close eye on the situation on a monthly basis as every purchase order we placed had gone up in value. This resulted in four unprecedented price reviews last year. This year, things have stabilised and weʼve only had two. We have had to contend with escalating prices of raw materials and limited fabric availability but careful forward production planning has enabled us to stabilise our prices to the end of this year. “Things have settled down now. Cotton prices are starting to ease. But because most people like ourselves have bought until
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