Sustainability is a very big part of Russell Newman’s supply chain strategy.By George Lauriat, AJOT Paul McCormack, Director of Imports for Russell Newman Brands, a New York-based manufacturer and distributor of underwear for women and children as well as robes and other clothing items, back in 1986 was working at JFK International Airport and looking for a position in the city …ideally with an importer. An opportunity presented itself in New York City at St. Eve, a well-established supplier of sleepwear. St. Eve Creations, Inc. was founded in 1976 to target the up and coming novelty cotton panty market, but the St. Eve brand rapidly expanded into sleepwear, children’s apparel and robes. St. Eve’s customers included major department stores like Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom’s, Frederick’s of Hollywood, Filene’s, Kohl’s, Sears, and JC Penney’s. In 2008, Russell Newman Brands (itself having been bought in 2007 by Industrial Renaissance) acquired St. Eve. That same year the Group added KN Neuburger, a company specializing in missy sleepwear, to the mix. McCormack says, “Our [Russell Newman Brands] is on women’s and kids’ underwear – what we term “day wear” – and robes.” “We also have a niche robe business supplying hotels,” he added. Like many apparel manufacturers/distributors a majority of the Group’s product is sourced from Asia. “We source a majority of our day wear from the Shanghai region of China, followed by Bangladesh,” McCormack told the AJOT in a recent interview. “Although we source most of the apparel from Shanghai, we also import from countries such as Cambodia, India, Pakistan and Turkey.” Bangladesh was the St. Eve’s brand’s primary source of apparel, but with the addition of more lines, a majority of the production shifted to Shanghai. Moving goods out of Shanghai has its logistic advantages for Russell Newman although the company also uses Ningbo, Xiamen and Yantian. With so much of the apparel manufactured primarily in the Shanghai region, it’s easier to build a FCL (Full-Container-Load) there than ports like Yantian. And with FCL shipments, the rates and services are better. The last two years have been a roller coaster ride for US importers. “Rates and Space,” McCormack said of the ups and downs all importers have endured. “Two years ago the carriers self-destructed, and rates hit rock bottom. Later as the rates went up, it became a challenge to know whether to go with the best rate…and to take a chance that the shipment wouldn’t make it onboard or to take the other route.” McCormack said that the last two turbulent years have been about relationships. The Group has been doing less business with freight forwarders and NVOs and relying on their own direct contacts with the ocean carriers. “We’re a member of a shippers’ association, so we prefer using the association’s contracts that have minimal commitments,” McCormack explained. “We use the freight forwarder often as a consolidator and pay a management fee for the services.” McCormack added. “It has worked out well for us, particularly with the overbooking and capacity issues of the last year,” he noted. The logistics of moving the apparel are a little different than a pure retailer. “Right now, everything is coming in via the West Coast,” McCormack said. The advantages of cross-dock and abundant distribution services are a factor. The company has its own facility in Denton, Texas, but the main challenge is to match the inbound shipments to customers’ own national distribution systems. McCormack explained, “Rarely do we arrange delivery to the vendors’ own DC (Distribution Center)…it might happen if a shipment is running late, and it saves the order; but we generally use their designated carriers.” For the niche apparel that Russell Newman supplies to the retailers, there really isn’t an associated peak season as with other retail products. “We ship year round,” McCormack said. The robes division does have close to a normal “peak season” with bigger vol