From last one year, very positive indications of growth are coming from Tirupur, and not only the city based garment exporters but even buying agencies are on expansion mode and expecting good growth also. This is in contrast to a few years ago when many local buying agents had to close down as business was at an historical low. With buying agencies back in business, it is indeed good news for the region, which is making a strong comeback.
One buying agency that is very upbeat is International Apparel Trading Inc., a 14 years old buying house which is exploring new buyers and is also in the process to add new vendors. Talking to Apparel Online, CEO of the company, Daniel Devadoss Fenn disclosed, “Though we are working with H&M, Primark and even some domestic clients, we were taking minimal risk and accepting only those orders which we could deliver easily. But now as market seems on improvement track, we are working to add new buyers especially from Europe, US and Canada and are very hopeful that our negotiations will add many new buyers from all these countries. Currently we have 10 vendors for various products like Tees, polos for men and women, and camisoles.”
Now we are looking for 10 new vendors for men’s and children’s wear as more orders are expected from overall markets.
Expecting 50 per cent growth this year, Daniel adds that as buyers are looking for sublimation prints and washed garments, vendors who can offer such products are priority for him. The company is concerned about quality and inspections are done at regular intervals, as inspection reports are forwarded to the buyer for their comments so that the flaws are rectified during production. At the time of dispatch, the goods are checked according to the AQL standards – AQL 2.5 for small quantity and AQL 4 for bigger quantities.
