According to a recent study by Pennsylvania based market research firm Unity, the U.S. ranked highest in the world among consumers when ranked the quality of luxury goods manufactured there. Based on a scale, with 100 being the average, the U.S. scored an astounding score of 267, scoring higher than both Italy and France, two countries that most consumers associate with the highest quality products.
In addition, a recent American Express study found that consumers like products made in America, up 5 percentage points from 2008, and 65% say they try to buy U.S. brands whenever possible, a 3 percentage point gain over 2008.
A great read in Bloomberg/Businessweek yesterday about luxury brands that are swaying customers with Made in USA products. All of us know the majority of companies that they feature- Brooks Brothers, Tiffany, Joseph Abboud, etc. One brand that may surprise everyone, The Row, the high end fashion line from The Olson twins, makes their clothes in New York City and Los Angeles. In fact, most Americans don’t realize that most fashion brands make clothes in the fashion districts in NYC and Los Angeles. Do you think a Hollywood star wants their hand sewn gown for the Academy Awards made in Vietnam? The Olson Twins’ brand has found favor with the likes of Michelle Obama and actress Julianne Moore. The brand also got a nomination this year for a new talent award by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Electric Vehicles International (EVI) announced that it will use a $3.9 million grant from the California Energy Commission to expand and modernize its primary U.S. manufacturing facility, creating 50 new jobs. The electric vehicle modernization grant will provide funding to develop a manufacturing line that will lower production costs, ultimately leading to more electric vehicles on the roads of California and nationwide.
According to the company:
This grant is intended to help EVI modernize and transform the medium and heavy-duty electric vehicle manufacturing industry, making clean, electric vehicles more accessible and affordable, and facilitating a widespread transition from diesel engines to zero-emission vehicles to meet California’s progressive economic and environmental goals.”
According to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, 49 of the 50 U.S. States lost manufacturing jobs over the last decade. The one exception…ALASKA. Although the state only added 100 jobs over the last decade, it still is great for the state. Alaska’s prosperity can certainly be linked to the natural resource price boom over the last decade. Around this time a decade ago oil was trading in the teens to twentys, now as we all know it has crossed $100, and gold and silver have followed suit. The state that lost the most manufacturing jobs? For all those who think Michigan, think again. It is actually California with 572,400 jobs lost.
Click here for a full list to see how your state faired.
An example of products that don't need to be made here
We were linked to a Consumerist post yesterday that highlighted a company called A.S. Sutton & Sons selling bibs that say “Made in America.” They got worked up because the bibs are actually Made in China. We do not see the big deal. Although this story may be ironic, we continue to stress that this is the wrong way to frame the discussion. It makes no difference where cheap goods are made. Let the Chinese make inexpensive items, while we focus on items that create high paying jobs here in America.
