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National clothier establishes distribution center
By Matthew French
Staff Writer
The manufacturer of clothing brand Fruit of the Loom announced earlier this month it will build a distribution center in the Lowcountry, citing the region’s strong tax credits, available workforce and port facilities.
Union Underwear Inc., based in Bowling Green, Ky., will build a 350,000-square-foot distribution center on Business Park Drive in upper Berkeley County near Jedburg.
John Holland, president of Fruit of the Loom, says the move to the region was a “major decision,” and a thorough search was conducted to find the ideal location.
“We looked at alternative port centers but were impressed with your port, your economic development incentives and the quality of the workforce,” he says.
Holland, who has been with the company since the early 1960s, decried the decline of the textiles industry in the United States.
“The textile and apparel industry is under intense competition from foreign imports,” he says. “We are one of the few in the industry that is still successful and makes investments in capital in the United States.”
The textile industry has been particularly hard hit by foreign competition, as work has drifted to Asian and South and Central American countries because of available cheap labor. Holland says the company’s goal is to create as many U.S. jobs as possible.
“In South Carolina, we were able to create something here,” Holland explains. “It will be a state-of-the-art distribution center to provide just-in-time inventory to our customers, which include such companies as Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target.”
The company hopes to have its facility completed by February 2006 and will hire between 100 and 200 to staff it at the start-up phase.
Attracting a company like Union Underwear represents a considerable win for Berkeley County, says Jim Rozier, county supervisor and county council chairman. Fruit of the Loom was purchased in 2002 by Berkshire Hathaway, the Nebraska holding company run by billionaire Warren Buffet, for more than $800 million.
“This shows that opportunities for textiles are not completely gone,” Rozier says. “There was some pretty stiff competition to get Union Underwear here. They looked at virtually every port city on the East Coast, and Savannah offered us some particularly steep challenges. While they’ll be starting out with between 100 and 200 people, I’ve heard that they are hoping for between 250 and 300 over the course of their ultimate build-out.”
Rozier added that the company will be paying wages at or above the county’s average. County officials estimate that the company will be paying around $11 an hour.
In an open letter written to Holland, Gov. Mark Sanford reiterated that his administration’s number one priority will be to attract top jobs to South Carolina.
“This is the kind of success story we want to duplicate all across the state,” Sanford writes. “That’s why we’ll continue to push for pro-business reforms, like additional income tax relief, to make our state even more attractive to companies looking to grow or expand.”
Union Underwear, the makers of Fruit of the Loom, BVD’s and Underoos, was founded in 1926. The company employs nearly 30,000 people worldwide.
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