Dad Caps
Five Panel Hats
Mesh Back Hats
In Stock Blanks
Snapback Hats
Stretchfit Hats
Duffel Bags
Backpacks
Tote Bags
Computer Bags
Sling Messenger Bags
Cooler Bags
Cuff Hats
Beanies
Scarves
Zipper Folders
Stitched Folders
Accordion Folders
Ring Binders
Letter Folders
Clipboards
Union Made In USA
Bag Cut and Sew Contract Work FAQ
Unionwear has curated over 40,000 styles of bags (50 body styles, 360 color combinations, 5 fabrics) to filter through on our website at https://unionwear.com/bags/. Minimums are 48 units, and prices are 25 to 40 percent off for wholesale clothing companies and decorators. All these bags are made to order, so slight modifications are available with minimums of 150 units.
Will Unionwear custom manufacture my own bag design using specific materials?
If you are looking for a domestic manufacturer of a product you have already sampled and already have sources for your materials our minimums are 300 units per style.
See below for minimums on sourcing and pricing on patternmaking and sampling.
What does Unionwear need to give clients a quote on cut and sew?
Fastest and cheapest: find a similar bag at https://unionwear.com/bags/. Note that we offer discounts of 25 to 40 percent off of our list prices to wholesale clothing companies and decorators. Send the link to our product page, or the item code, and a description (which must include dimensions, materials, and quantity) of how you want to customize that product.
When moving production from overseas: Send us a sample of your product, tell us what you want to change about it, what we can’t change about it, and let us know what your unit budget is. We will then let you know what we are able to do in your price range.
If this is a new product you have designed–We need dimensions, visuals, and quantity range estimates, and what design or functionality elements are critical, so we can make re-engineering recommendations to keep domestic sewing costs down (our specialty!).
Ideal: send us an actual sample of your or a similar product along with notes of how your product differs.
Almost as good: a TECH PACK–drawings of all bag features, inside and out, with dimensions, along with your fabric and trim guidelines if we are sourcing for you, or descriptions of the materials you will be providing us. You can even send us links to photos you find online of other products so we can see how you want certain items finished (as in you like the gusset from bag A, the zipper from bag B, etc.).
Where do I send this stuff?
Fax: 973 497 7708
Email: sales@unionwear.com
Shipping address: Unionwear attn: Colin Greene, 305 Third Ave W, Newark, NJ 07107.
How long does it take for Unionwear to quote a custom job?
We can usually get you a quote on a modified Unionwear pattern in 24 hours. A totally custom quote will take 2-3 days from the time you get us everything we need to know. Any quotes requiring sourcing may take longer as we have less control over vendors quoting us.
What are Unionwear’s minimum runs?
To tweak an existing product, minimums are usually 300 units. To create a new product, our minimum order is $5000 with a minimum of 300 units per style/colorway per order.
Will Unionwear source materials for clients?
Unionwear has thousands of materials in inventory to choose from and over one hundred fabric and trim vendors. If Unionwear stocks your material, there are no minimums.
You are welcome to source materials yourself and just use Unionwear for the cut and sew work. If you require a complete package…
If your materials request can be sourced from our existing vendors, such as a special color of a fabric or a special width of a webbing we already carry, we will base your minimums on our minimum purchase (around 300 units for custom fabric for example). If we need to find materials from new vendors, we require higher minimums (around 1500 units for custom fabric for example).
What charges and collateral materials does Unionwear need to supply a sample or go right into production?
If this is a modification of a product already on unionwear.com, the sampling cost is $75, and no patterns are required, but foolproof explanations of the modifications will be required to avoid multiple sampling charges.
If this is a new product:
To avoid pattern-making charges, send patterns along with finished dimensions and seam allowances.
If we are not using stock materials, you will need to provide us with all materials. If we are sourcing non stock materials for you, all costs associated with receiving sample materials will be quoted to you and they must be prepaid in addition to any pattern or sampling charges.
If you would like Unionwear to make your patterns, Unionwear needs at a minimum visuals (drawings, links, samples) and finished dimensions. Any curved lines must be drawn to scale, and all dimensions between trims must be communicated (such as the distance from a buckle to the edge of the bag).
Unionwear charges a minimum of $75 for pattern making and an additional $75 for sample making, with a maximum of $15 for every pattern that needs to be created for the pattern making and $15 for every separate piece of fabric involved in the sample for sample making.
If the product requires embroidery, there is a charge of $25 for one embroidery, and a separate charge for digitizing the design for embroidery if a .dst file is not provided.
What is the lead time for sampling with and without patternmaking?
Sampling takes six to ten business days from receipt of all collateral materials. Sampling with patternmaking takes 11 to 15 business days receipt of all collateral materials.
What is the lead time for production?
Normal turn time is 3-4 weeks from receipt of all materials.
Unionwear Spoofed on Daily Show with Jon Stewart
After seeing Unionwear’s success making Made in USA merchandise for political campaigns, The Daily Show’s John Oliver proposes an “Election Stimulus” — a presidential election every twelve months–as a way to invigorate domestic manufacturing and other sectors of the economy who benefit from campaign spending.
Here is the unabridged transcript of the Unionwear interview:
Kudlow: Unionwear Gets “USA Made” Gold Ring
Unionwear and New Balance were featured on the Kudlow Report’s Made in USA July 4th Special. Unionwear President Mitch Cahn talks about how lean manufacturing principles helps union shops compete with factories overseas and in Right to Work States.
Newark Video Promotes Local Sourcing
Unionwear is featured in this video for Maker’s Row / Newark, a site for sourcing local cut and sew contractors.
http://www.MakersRow.com/Newark
The video was launched at an event on May 28, when Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn spoke at a Brookings Institution panel along with Mayor Cory Booker and NJIT President Joel Bloom on Newark’s Manufacturing Moment, discussed here in NJ Biz Magazine:
CNBC: Made in USA on the Rise
Mitch Cahn is the owner and founder of Unionwear, an apparel and accessories maker—all exclusively made in the U.S. Despite years of panicked manufacturing headlines—Japan is making everything! No, It’s China!—Cahn has kept his business open for 21 years and counting, all on American soil.
The company’s first core customers were unions that wanted to support union wages and “Made in USA” goods. Then more recently, a new crop of customers began ringing Unionwear headquarters in Newark, N.J.
East Coast fashion designers—including those in NYC’s garment district—were shopping for U.S.-based contract manufacturers. With labor costs in China rising and that country’s own economy accelerating, small U.S. shop owners couldn’t get the attention of overseas manufacturers. In an ironic twist, they couldn’t afford a “Made in China” strategy.
“Now we have five to 10 callers a day about doing that kind of contract work. It’s a groundswell,” Cahn said. “And it’s not patriotism. It’s economics that’s prompting them to call us,” he said.
Cahn’s changing business points to the shifting global economy. With labor costs in China forecast to climb further, more small-business owners are benefiting from, or actively pursuing, domestic manufacturing rather than overseas options, sometimes called reshoring.
And small shop manufacturers aren’t just dusting off shuttered businesses, locked up after jobs moved to countries such as Japan in the 1970s. Young entrepreneurs are innovating from scratch, creating new online communities such as Maker’s Row—and even turning to emerging platforms such as crowdfunding—to bankroll U.S. manufacturing operations.
(Read More: Made in the USA: More Consumers Buying American)
After Bangladesh
After the deadly collapse of a garment factory building in Bangladesh, more people have been asking questions about overseas-made apparel, often linked to sweatshops and unsafe working conditions. (Read More: How to Bring Ethics to Your Closet)
Some top European apparel labels includingH&M have signed a safety-standards pact. But other major U.S. companies including the Gap and Walmart are pursuing independent solutions. They haven’t signed the group safety accord, which binds retailers to improve safety at Bangladesh factories.
But searching for ethically-sourced goods in a global economy is tricky. And what percentage of a good’s raw materials and labor must originate from the U.S. to merit a “Made in the USA” label?
“Right now there’s no common, national definition for ‘Made in the USA,’ ” said Harold Sirkin, a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group.
Even if you wanted to make American-made products, sourcing domestic raw materials is challenging in part because most online manufacturing resources are Asia-focused. But one Brooklyn, N.Y.-based start-up is changing that trend.
(Read more: The ‘Opportunity’ Entrepreneur Returns)
Maker’s Row
Maker’s Row is an online matchmaker that connects designers with industry-specific factories and suppliers—all based in the U.S. Product designers and small businesses can join the website for free, while manufacturers pay $200 a month.
Maker’s Row founder Matthew Burnett is a designer and Detroit native. He relocated to New York City to work for major apparel labels, before launching his own watch line. His grandfather was a watchmaker so he’s been around small shop manufacturing all his life.
But manufacturing his designs overseas was a costly headache. Orders and tweaks, shipped abroad, took weeks to resolve. “You add import taxes and it becomes such a gamble manufacturing overseas as a small business,” Burnett said.
Maker’s Row was launched in 2012 and breaks down the manufacturing process for small- to medium-sized ventures. The site allows entrepreneurs, many first-timers, to plug into a U.S. supply chain including factories in all 50 states.
Participating businesses straddle apparel and accessories. “It’s harder to find a manufacturer in the U.S. than in China,” Burnett said. Maker’s Row plans to add other industries, and is wrapping up their seed round of funding.
The site includes about 10,000 small-business owners and roughly 1,800 manufacturers, including Cahn of Unionwear.
And a vibrant U.S. manufacturing sector means more domestic jobs. For a $1 million backpack order, for example, Cahn estimates he’s able to hire 35 to 40 New Jersey workers. Less than 10 percent of American jobs come from manufacturing.
(Read More: US Manufacturing Shrinks for First Time in Six Months)
Of course not everyone can afford American-made goods. U.S. consumer spending fell in April for the first time in almost a year, as personal income growth was flat. But attitudes are changing.
Earlier this year, Walmart announced it will boost sourcing of U.S. products. And more American and Chinese consumers are willing to pay a 10 percent to 60 percent premium for “Made in USA” goods, according to BCG research released last fall.
Meanwhile, a shift in manufacturing away from China will begin to take hold around 2015, according to BCG forecasts. Rising labor prices there will create a ripple effect.
Certain industries—in which labor is a lower percentage of total product costs—are more likely to pack up overseas for North America, including Mexico, where labor costs are stable. Product categories likely to reshore first include appliances and electronics, transportation, machinery, plastics, furniture and chemicals, BCG’s Sirkin said.
But as the global economy evolves and shakes out new winners and losers, consumers are connecting the dots between inexpensive, overseas goods and evaporating U.S. jobs.
The recession has been especially brutal on chronically out-of-work or underemployed Americans. Unemployment that counts the discouraged and underemployed, sometimes called the “real” jobless rate, is still above 10 percent in many states.
“People used to thumb their nose at manufacturing jobs,” said Unionwear’s Cahn. But when the recession gripped the U.S. and the manufacturing sector was among the first to stand up and create jobs, many gave the sector a another look.
“As a country we can’t all be servicing each other,” Cahn said. “You have to have manufacturing.”
—By CNBC’s Heesun Wee; Follow her on Twitter @heesunwee
Labor Activist on CNN: Follow Unionwear’s Lead
Unionwear got a big thumbs up yesterday from the toughest labor activist out there: The International Labor Rights Forum. ILRF President Judy Gearhart, was on to discuss the major changes in supply chain management that need to occur to prevent more tragedies like the factory collapse in Bangladesh.
CNN: How do we know whether the clothes that you or I are wearing come from a factory under deplorable working conditions?
International Labor Rights Forum President Judy Gearhart: There is no good way to tell right now and there’s no silver bullet… There are a handful of brands that are really trying to produce in a way that is absolutely ethical throughout their supply chain. They include brands like UNIONWEAR, but really getting this to go mainstream will take consumers getting involved and communicating directly to mainstream brands that they need to make a big change in their apparel supply chain. It’s incumbent upon consumers and u.s. companies who perhaps can do a better job of vetting or regulating suppliers in countries like Bangladesh.
Unionwear featured in “Recognize Newark” Promotional Video.
Unionwear is featured in The City of Newark, NJ’s new promotional video,
Recognize Newark, for our contributions in bringing together and raising the profile of the city’s manufacturers. 3:50 in.
NJBIZ: Newark Putting It All Together
Getting all the stakeholders on board is critical in push to help manufacturing expand.
Newark’s infrastructure and geographic advantages have drawn manufacturing to the city, but the Made in Newark movement says there are challenges, too. – (Photo By AARON HOUSTON)
Newark has become New Jersey’s urban manufacturing laboratory, as the Brick City engages stakeholders from business, government and education to help employers thrive while churning out products from clothing to chemicals, to paintbrushes and mattresses.
A key milestone in the three-year-old Made in Newark movement came in May, with the release of a Brookings Institution study that found Newark has drawn a cluster of diverse manufacturers that benefit from the city’s favorable geographic location, as well as its international port, rail and highway connections. But it also pinpointed serious challenges that can blunt Newark’s competitive edge: an aging workforce, insufficient investment in innovation and sustainability, and poor participation in regional and global markets.
Brookings fellow Nisha Mistry, a co-author of the report who also is an aide to Mayor Cory Booker, said Newark has a real concentration of manufacturing assets; getting them to perform more efficiently “will require the active involvement of many voices and institutions.”
Stakeholders looking to Newark’s manufacturing renaissance are hoping their involvement helps accomplish that. Among them are the New Jersey Institute of Technology, which wants to educate the next generation of shop floor leaders, and Rutgers Business School, which is launching the state’s first urban manufacturing resources hub through its supply-chain management program; both campuses are in Newark. The state Department of Labor’s advanced manufacturing talent network, launched in 2011 at NJIT, is working with all stakeholders, including community colleges and technical high schools, to train a pipeline of manufacturing workers in the skills needed on a computerized factory floor. The Newark Regional Business Partnership also is a major supporter of the city’s manufacturing initiative.
That level of involvement was the kind of thing Mitch Cahn envisioned when he helped launch the Made in Newark support group in 2011, with the help of Booker’s economic development team.
At the time, “I thought maybe there were a dozen manufacturers in town,” said Cahn, who launched his Unionwear apparel company in 1992 and has been in Newark for 12 years, where he now employs 110. When a research effort turned up 400 manufacturers in the city, “I was shocked,” he said.
Manufacturers, he said, have found “Newark is at the intersection of inexpensive space and abundant skilled labor.” But they tend to underfly the radar, because while they may employ a couple hundred people, they work in nondescript buildings scattered throughout the city. It’s hoped that the partnership with Newark’s universities can help power further growth in the sector.
“It’s very difficult to hire management in manufacturing, because individuals coming out of engineering schools and business school were not preparing for jobs in the manufacturing sector over the past 20 years,” said Cahn, who said his company makes baseball caps, backpacks and other textile products for companies seeking items made in America, including political campaigns, labor unions and the military. “Now that manufacturing is roaring back here, there’s a big gap.”
The challenge is finding factory managers who understand both manufacturing processes and new technology, he said: “In certain positions, we hire two people — someone with technological expertise and someone with manufacturing expertise — and hope they can work together.”
NJIT is eager to train the new factory management, said Donald Sebastian, its senior vice president for research and development. He said NJIT has long been committed to manufacturing: In 1995, he launched the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program, which provides consultants to manufacturers to help them boost efficiency, provide training and develop new product lines. Originally housed at NJIT, today NJMEP is an independent nonprofit in Morris Plains.
“We’ve never stopped beating the drum to get people to understand that we have to be a producer country, and this needs to be a producer state,” Sebastian said. “People have gotten back to the business of understanding that we need to make the things that we consume and that we sell, and that innovation is not just about clever products — it’s about cleverness in producing those products.”
Sebastian said NJIT is considering an undergraduate program to prepare engineers for manufacturing. He said industry is evolving, and factory leaders must be prepared to manage rapid changes in product life cycles.
“Small and midsized companies have to be part of the design process, they have to be part of the innovation and thought process,” Sebastian said. Years ago, an auto parts supplier might make the same General Motors part for a decade. “Now, you may be a supplier to three or four automotive manufacturers, and those platforms change on a three-year time cycle — you can’t do the same thing over and over and over again.”
He said NJIT hopes to convene groups of Newark industrial firms and help them “develop a sense of identity and community, and chart a course for growth.”
Gale Tenen Spak, associate vice president of continuing and distance education at NJIT, said the university is exploring ways to replenish the pipe of “technologists” — workers with the training and credentials for advanced manufacturing’s computer-driven workplace. One idea is for workers to take “stackable” industry-vetted courses leading to credentials “that are accepted for an associate’s degree leading to bachelor’s degree. Then, you have the ability for individuals to have that long-term career with a family-sustaining income.”
Meredith Aronson, who for the past two years has headed the state’s advanced manufacturing talent network, said the Brookings report revealed “food and textiles are substantial and important manufacturing activities in Newark,” and recognized that “we are not performing as aggressively as we need to in Newark with regards to exports.”
And while it may be difficult to find large parcels of land to locate a factory in Newark, the city could attract high-tech factories that need less space: “I see opportunity for urban or metro-focused manufacturing, because the footprint can be smaller in many cases” and they can tap the urban workforce, she said.
E-mail to: beth@njbiz.com
On Twitter: @bethfitzgerald8
source: http://www.njbiz.com/article/20130624/NJBIZ01/306219989/Putting-it–all-together
NJ Econ Development Guide Features Unionwear
Unionwear was featured in the State of New Jersey’s Economic Development Guide, for their commitment to lean manufacturing and public / private partnerships.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/117260243/3/Industrial-Strength
Unionwear in Wearables Fashion Sense Channel “USA Made” segment
The resurgence of domestic apparel manufacturing (including Unionwear) featured on the Wearables Fashion Sense Channel this month. All of these brands are available from your local promotional products professional, screen printer, or embroiderer.
4 USA Made Items That Cost Less Than Imports
With labor costs continuing to skyrocket in China, transportation costs trending upward, and importers piling on currency hedge premiums, a number of promotional items have become less expensive to produce domestically. Four places to look:
1. Products made out of expensive materials. Pricey leathers and performance fabrics make the difference in labor costs insignificant. This bag uses $40 worth of leather whether it’s made in China or New Jersey. If labor costs are $9 domestically and $3 overseas, the FOB price will be $49 vs. $43–and the shipping, duties, taxes, cost of capital and other import headaches will more than eat up the cost savings. That’s why so many leather bags are made in the USA or in places even more expensive, like Italy.
2. Bulky products that are expensive to ship. Look for hard cases, coolers, laptop bags, products that don’t ship flat or nest. We recently made a hard case that was three feet wide by two feet high–it was more cost effective for the client to buy domestically than to pay to ship mostly air around the world.
3. Products with unnecessary bells and whistles. When labor was almost free, the Chinese often engineered products to “make work”, and little has changed. Evolved US factories re-engineer, eliminating unnecessary labor from imported products and build dedicated, lean production lines to keep labor costs low in a high wage environment.
4. Small batch customization. Import unit pricing may still be cheaper on most items, but there is a large overhead with every transaction. Language differences require tech packs. Sample approval and product development cost a fortune. As a result, customization in small quantities is cost prohibitive. Not domestically: you can do all over prints, custom dye lots, custom patterns, and panel embroideries by the hundreds–not tens of thousands.
Hot Hats: Snapbacks, Campers, All Over Prints
We get an early look at fashion trends in our role as local headwear contractor to the NYC garment industry. And four styles of hats are blowing traditional baseball caps away:
1. Snapbacks. The hottest hats are “snapbacks” meant to evoke the 70s pro baseball cap styles worn by the old school rappers of the early 90s. Two tone caps with high fronts, flat visors, and “Made in USA” embossed adjustable plastic straps evoke the era before these products were outsourced to China.
2. Five Panel Camper Hats. Five panel caps with with a low, relaxed shape, totally custom cut and sewn in small quantities. Made in canvas, duck, waxed poplin, wool Melton, plaid flannel, often with a patch or label sewn on front and a suede visor, aka “Fudd hats”, “fly fisherman hats” or even “Fargo caps.”
3. All Over Prints. Sublimation prints are full color prints that encompass the whole front panel of the cap and even the top of the visor. Actually, the whole hat (or a bag) is game. Unionwear’s new seamless lowstyle cap allows for printing a totally flat surface with no breaks for the seam. Contact us at 973 854 6725 or sales@unionwear.com to discuss setting up a program to print fabric or cut parts.
4. Utility Caps and other Military Style. With combat forces becoming more inclusive, dont expect this trend of military shapes and camo hats to abate any time soon. Unionwear stocks 12 types of camo, including Realtree and is an official military supplier for all major military patterns, and offers, boonies, ghillies, 8 point,
utility caps (pictured), and garrison caps.
BarackObama.com Now Offering Six Unionwear Hats
BarackObama.com Now Offering Six styles of Unionwear Hats: Show your support for President Obama at the ballpark and everywhere else with our 2012 hat. Made in the USA.
Anne Hathaway Rocking a Fleabag, Made Right Here at Unionwear
Corporate USA-Made Buying Sees Uptick
Another day, another study that 75% of Americans are willing to pay more for USA Made merchandise.
Corporate logo apparel magnifies this phenomenon since companies are sensitive to being judged on their commitment to everything from helping rebuild our economy to the working conditions at their vendors’ factories. Here are six situations where a company will pay a small premium to see Made in USA on a promotional product that features its logo:
Company Store Catalogs/Fulfillment Programs
Companies that charge employees for corporate logo gear at far more likely to offer Made in USA options because it’s a risk free way to test their employees’ willingness to shell out a couple bucks extra for USA Made, while showing their support for domestic manufacturing. These companies may continue to buy their giveaways overseas unless they are…
Domestic Manufacturers
USA manufacturers such as GM, GE, John Deere, and Harley Davidson are already aware of the rapidly shrinking premium paid for USA Made. Most push “Made in USA” in their marketing and want to avoid appearing hypocritical saving money by putting their logo on an overseas product.
Other Industries Identifying with USA Made
Companies that promote their commitment to adding value with US labor in industries such as food processing, bottling, construction, energy and even technology, graphic design, and web development buy USA promos for the same reasons as domestic manufacturers.
Regulated Utilities/Telecom with strong Unions
Public Utilities and cable and phone giants such as AT&T and Verizon have been at the forefront of buying USA made wearables for their workers, as a nod to both the gigantic unions who represent their field workers and the politicians who must approve the usage of public bandwidth, easements, and other resources.
Trade Justice, Green, and other Social Ventures
Corporations with Social Ventures departments and/or a strong stated commitment to the environment or workers rights will buy USA Made–or at least avoid associating with countries known for sweatshops and lax environmental regulation.
Companies with Clients Highly Sensitive to “USA Made”
Unions, federal and state governments, the military, and political campaigns take issue with anything not USA Made, so companies giving away merch at events that cater to these industries take pains to endorse “USA Made”. Examples are financial services companies that cater to unions, military contractors, and DOT vendors.
Sources:
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20130203/RETAIL_APPAREL/302039979
Unionwear: Made in NJ on NJTV
State of Manufacturing in New Jersey: In part 2 of New Jersey, NJ Today’s David Cruz reports on how a public-private partnership is helping Unionwear compete in the international market place.
BCDC – Newark, It’s Your Move
BCDC – Newark, It’s Your Move: Newark Highlight video for Brick City Development Starring: Chip Hallock – Newark Regional Business Partnership, Dr Lezli & Chris Harvell – DentalKidz, Don Katz – Audible.com, Mitch Cahn – Unionwear, Joe Taylor – Panasonic Corporation, Dr dt ogilvie – Rutgers Business School, Marketing Agency/Art Direction – Princeton Partners, Video Production – Visitivity Media.
Headwear Cut and Sew Contract Work FAQ
www.Unionwear.com features dozens of hat patterns–snapbacks, campers, five panel, buckets, boonies to name a few–offered in a dozen fabrics in 25 or more colors, with almost unlimited customization options. We offer discounts of 25 to 40 percent off of our list prices to wholesale clothing companies and decorators.
What does Unionwear need to give clients a quote on cut and sew?
For any kind of sewn headwear, its easiest to start with a similar product on our web site, www.unionwear.com at the Hats Made to Order tab. Send the link to our product page, or the item code, and a description of how you want to customize that product.
If this is a new product you have designed:
If this is a new product you have designed–We need dimensions, visuals, and quantity range estimates, and what design or functionality elements are critical, so we can make re-engineering recommendations to keep domestic sewing costs down (our specialty!).
Ideal: send us an actual sample of your or a similar product along with notes of how your product differs
Almost as good: a TECH PACK–drawings of all features, inside and out, with dimensions, along with your fabric and trim guidelines if we are sourcing for you, or descriptions of the materials you will be providing us. You can even send us links to photos you find online of other products so we can see how you want certain items finished.
Where do I send this stuff?
Fax: 973 497 7708
Email: sales@unionwear.com
Shipping address: Unionwear attn: Colin Greene, 305 Third Ave W, Newark, NJ 07107.
How long does it take for Unionwear to quote a custom job?
We can usually get you a quote on a modified Unionwear pattern in 24 hours. A totally custom quote will take 2-3 days from the time you get us everything we need to know. Any quotes requiring sourcing may take longer as we have less control over vendors quoting us.
What are Unionwear’s minimum runs?
To customize any style of headwear with stock patterns, materials and trims, 72 units (though 144 units gives you a big price break)
To create a new hat style expect to spend a minimum of $5000 on contract work on your product line over the course of a year, with a minimum of 300 units per style/colorway per order.
Will Unionwear source materials for clients?
Unionwear has thousands of materials in inventory to choose from and over one hundred fabric and trim vendors. If Unionwear stocks your material, there are no minimums.
If your materials request can be sourced from our existing vendors, such as a special color of a fabric, the minimum is 800 units. If we need to find materials from new vendors, the minimum is 3200 units. Custom dye lots are 10,000 units. You are welcome to source materials yourself and just use Unionwear for cut and sew.
What charges and collateral materials does Unionwear need to supply a sample or go right into production?
If this is a modification of a product already on unionwear.com, the sampling cost is $50, plus digitizing charges of a .dst file is not provided.
If this is a new product, send patterns along with a tech pack and seam allowances. If we are not using stock materials, you will need to provide us with all materials. If we are sourcing non stock materials for you, all costs associated with receiving sample materials will be quoted to you and they must be prepaid in addition to any pattern or sampling charges.
What is the lead time for sampling?
Sampling takes three to five business days from receipt of all collateral materials.
Are there any other set up charges before production?
Most new headwear patterns will require dies, which will be quoted when we see the patterns (minimum of $400). For smaller production runs, some patterns can be hand cut, for a surcharge.
What is the lead time for production?
Normal turn time is 3-4 weeks from receipt of all materials.
Coast Guard Admiral Tours Unionwear
Newark, N.J. – Mitch Cahn (right), President of Unionwear, provides a tour of his Newark, N.J., ball cap manufacturing facility to Coast Guard Capt. Robert R. Mckenna, Commander of Community Services Command, Bernard Reiner, a Coast Guard Auxiliary congressional liaison officer, Rear Adm. Daniel R. May, Commander of Personal Service Center, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. The Coast Guard presented Unionwear a Certificate of Appreciation for their outstanding efforts, providing on-time delivery of the Coast Guard’s new standard uniform ball cap.
Coast Guard Recognizes Newark’s Unionwear for Outstanding Support
Coast Guard Recognizes Local Business for its Outstanding Support: US
Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security recognized Newark’s Unionwear for delivering 50,000 units of newly developed uniform headwear in under 90 days.
Inside, Outside U.S.A.
Inside, Outside U.S.A.: Presidents of American Apparel, Unionwear, Jensen discuss the economics behind the surge in domestic apparel production.
Video: Unionwear in Newark Provides ‘boonie caps’ for U.S. Military
Video: Unionwear in Newark provides ‘boonie caps’ for U.S. Military: About half of the production in Newark’s Unionwear facility is military-related – which keeps the uniforms that our servicemen wear truly “Made in America”. (Video by Sarah Portlock / The Star Ledger)
‘Made in Newark’ Initiative Hopes to Introduce Visitors to City’s Businesses, Locally Made Products
‘Made in Newark’ initiative hopes to introduce visitors to city’s businesses, locally made products: Newark – Activity buzzed inside a nondescript, one-story manufacturing building near Newark’s Branch Brook Park. Workers from Unionwear carefully cut zippers to length for royal blue gym bags emblazoned with a block-lettered “Made in Newark” logo on the side.