Staff Report
Published Feb. 10, 2010

Apparel manufacturer Gildan Activewear will locate a new distribution center on Clements Ferry Road with operations expected to begin in the next few weeks.

Gildan, based in Canada, supplies t-shirts, sweatshirts and fleece apparel to wholesalers for screen printing in the United States, Canada and Europe. The company also supplies socks and other apparel to mass-market retailers.

Glenn Chamandy, president and CEO

Gildan has purchased the former Mikasa building, which is located in the city of Charleston and in Berkeley County.

“This state-of-the-art facility will be utilized to support the company’s strategic initiative to become a major full-line supplier of basic family apparel for national mass-market retailers,” Glenn Chamandy, Gildan president and CEO, said in a statement that the S.C. Department of Commerce released today.

Chamandy said the 850,000-square-foot building could be expanded to accommodate long-term growth.

The company is investing about $25 million, including the purchase and upfit, said Mike Albright, director of human resources for Gildan.

Gildan expects to hire about 250 people this year for the new facility. That includes positions in distribution, customer service, sales, sales support and finance, Albright said.

The hiring process for distribution jobs is already under way.

Gildan has a wholesale distribution facility nearby in North Carolina, Albright said. The new center will focus on retail distribution.

The company was looking for a site near a port, and officials were impressed by the labor force in the Charleston area and the incentives for training and hiring, Albright said.

“And we got a really good deal on the building, just to be honest with you,” he said.

Albright said the building, which includes office and distribution space, is a good fit for Gildan’s operations.

“It’s perfect for what we want to do,” he said.