U.S. to Get Tough on Counterfeiting and Piracy The United States hopes to pass a trade agreement with major trading partners to combat counterfeiting and piracy of branded goods and other items. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab announced the plan Oct. 23 at a Capitol Hill press conference before members of Congress and several ambassadors from countries that will be part of the new initiative. “The United States looks forward to partnering with many of our key trading partners to combat this global problem,” Schwab told the group. “Today launches our joint efforts to confront counterfeiters and pirates across the global marketplace.” The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) would complement the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) under the World Trade Organi- zation and other intellectual-property-rights agreements. Trading partners discussing the agreement include Canada, the European Union and its 27 countries, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, and Switzerland. Schwab said the United States and its trading partners would like to complete the new agreement as soon as possible. It would focus on three major areas: cooperation among countries, best practices for fighting copyright piracy and developing a strong legal framework to prosecute violations of intellectual-property rights. The trade agreement was lauded by the American <strong>Apparel</strong> & Footwear Association, an Arlington, Va.–based trade group of manufacturers and their suppliers, for consolidating the enforcement activities of international intellectual-property rights. Cone Denim Lays Off 150 Employees Cone Denim is paring down its workforce again at its only remaining denim plant in the United States. The layoffs at the White Oak plant in Greensboro, N.C., should take place by Dec. 3, officials said in a statement. Two years ago, the 102-year-old plant had 1,100 people working there. But foreign competition has made it tougher for Cone Denim, a division of International Textile Group, to compete in the United States. After the layoffs, there will be 550 workers at the mill. Company executives said the downsizing of the workforce is due to U.S. manufacturers increasingly opting to use fabrics made in China and other foreign countries. To compete globally, Cone Denim operates a joint-venture denim plant in Mexico and is constructing a denim mill in Nicaragua. It has operations in Turkey and India. Jointventure plants are also being constructed in Vietnam and China. White Oak will continue to focus on high-end denim used in premium blue jeans. In September, John Bakane, Cone Denim’s president who has been with the company and its predecessor since 1975, announced he would retire at the end of the year. Cone Denim was created in 2004 after New York businessman and billionaire Wilbur Ross bought Cone Mills and Burlington Industries out of bankruptcy to form ITG.—D.B. Worried About Counterfeits? Stein Shostak Shostak Pollack & O’Hara, LLP The Chinese Government will work with brand owners to intercept counterfeits before they are shipped. Call us, SSSPO. We are the only customs law firm in downtown Los Angeles with a Representative Office in Shanghai, China Since 1933, our lawyers have specialized in customs and international trade law, including classification, value, admissibility, seizures and forfeiture litigation, penalties, protection of intellectual property rights, all custom audits, export regulation, and other trade related issues. LOS ANGELES Suite 1388 865 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, CA 90017 Tel: (213) 630-8888 Fax: (213) 630-8890 SHANGHAI China Merchants Tower 9th Floor No. 161, Lu Jia Zui Road, Pudong, Shanghai, China 200120 Xinyu “Jason” Li Resident Partner Ph: 011-86-13-66-<strong>18</strong>7-9769 jxli@steinshostak.com SAN DIEGO Suite C 1605 Pacific Rim Court San Diego, CA 92154 Tel: (619) 661-6317 Fax: (619) 661-1448 www.ssspo.com 2 CALIFORNIA APPAREL NEWS OCTOBER 26–NOVEMBER 1, 2007 WASHINGTON, D.C. Suite 615 1620 1 Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 Tel: (202) 331-<strong>18</strong>76 Fax: (202) 331-<strong>18</strong>77 “The prevalence of knockoffs is a serious threat to the apparel and footwear industry’s companies, workers and consumers,” said Kevin Burke, the AAFA’s president and chief executive. “Footwear and apparel products represented 36 percent and 14 percent, respectively, of all seized counterfeit goods by the U.S. Customs Service in the first half of 2007.”—Deborah Belgum PacSun Closes Steps, Looks for New Solutions for Demo Pacific Sunwear announced on Oct. 24 that it will shutter its nine-store footwear retailer, One Thousand Steps, and that it will search for an investment banker to help it find “strategic alternatives” for its 154 urban-themed demo stores. The Anaheim, Calif.–based retailer’s core business is its 837 Pacific Sunwear surf and skate stores, and the company will shift its focus to its core business, said Sally Frame Kasaks, the retailer’s chief executive. In a prepared statement, Kasaks said that demo merchants had tried to change the urban retailer’s long-suffering business for the past two years to no avail. In the past year, Pacific Sunwear had made moves to scale back demo’s business. In February, Kasaks announced that the company would close 74 demo stores. One Thousand Steps debuted April 2006 at the Galleria at Tyler shopping center in Riverside, Calif. Kasaks said one reason for the footwear retailer’s closure was that her company’s shareholders would not benefit from the continued operation of the chain. One Thousand Steps and demo both had generated a total pre-tax operating loss of $21 million during the first three quarters of the 2007 fiscal year. Despite the tough news, retail analyst Liz Pierce thought the future was bright for Pacific Sunwear. “We believe the core Pacific Sunwear brand still has a lot of growth opportunities,” she wrote in a research note dated Oct. 25. Pierce works for Roth Capital Partners, based in Newport Beach, Calif.—Andrew Asch Retail Conference in the Desert “Redefining the Retailer/Supplier Relationship” will be the theme for this year’s Vendor Compliance Federation’s fall conference, set for Nov. 4–7 at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort in Indian Wells, Calif. Parsippany, N.J.–based VCF is a 20year-old organization formed to improve relationships and transactional processes between retailers and suppliers. This year’s conference will feature case studies with Kohl’s as well as discussions and panel events on customer-relationship management, supply-chain management, EDI (electronic data interchange), logistics and other areas. More than 400 attendees are expected. For more information, visit www.vcfww.com or e-mail amiano@vcfww.com. —Robert McAllister Corrections and Clarifications In the Oct. 19 coverage of the Los Angeles International Textile Show, Ned Pilchman and Ann Davis were incorrectly identified. Pilchman’s company, Marteva Textiles, and Davis’ Davis Textile Group both represent American Fabrics International. Week In Review <strong>California</strong> Off to India. Cherokee Inc., based in Van Nuys, has licensed its brand name to Arvind Mills Ltd. in India. The multiyear license is for men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, footwear, accessories, home and other categories. Cherokee did not disclose the price of the licensing deal. Cherokee has been on a worldwide licensing program. The company has licensing agreements with companies in 28 countries, including a licensing agreement with Target Inc. in the United States. Arvind Mills is one of India’s largest integrated textile companies in India, with a retail division called Megamart. Arvind also plans a rollout of Cherokee products in free-standing Cherokee stores. Battle over. Sears Holdings and Computer Sciences Corp. have put down the gloves in a dispute over a 10-year outsourcing agreement for information technology. The two announced they settled their differences after Sears paid an undisclosed sum of money to Computer Sciences. Sears does not expect to take a charge against revenues because it put aside a reserve for the expense. Sears Holdings, based in Chicago, is a $53 billion retailer that operates 3,800 Sears Roebuck & Co. and Kmart stores. Computer Sciences is a $15 billion information-technology company in El Segundo. National Flying high. Retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc. is launching a new line of workout and fitness wear called aerie f.i.t. (“fun, inspirational, technical”) for the 15- to 25-year-old girl. The line includes exercise clothes and accessories such as pants, leggings, shorts, tees, hoodies, tanks, vests and headbands. The fitness line is just one of the latest developments for aerie, a brand launched by Pittsburgh-based American Eagle in late 2006 with underwear and sleepwear. This holiday season, aerie plans to launch personal-care items such as body lotions, washes, lip care and home fragrances. Getting the goods. Family Dollar, with more than 6,000 stores in 44 states, and The NPD Group Inc., a Port, Washington, N.Y., company that tracks consumer and retail trends, have formed a three-year alliance to share information. Family Dollar will provide its sales information in return for access to NPD’s information services for apparel, housewares and small domestic appliances. Family Dollar executive Robert George said the agreement will help the retailer anticipate customers’ wants and needs. International Male appeal. The French design house Cacharel, best known for its ready-to-wear womenswear, has opened a pilot store in Paris filled with the company’s first men’s collection. The store is called La Chemiserie Cacharel, or the Cacharel Shirt Store. The store opening comes after the recent appointment of Phillippe Cardon as the new chief executive. In 2006, Cacharel was in the red, but it expects to break even this year. Quote of the week My feet were soaking wet, so if I hadn’t caught myself with my hands, I would have had to swim out.—Fashion model Sarah Welch, talking with Inside Edition about her fall through a hole in the runway at the Shadang fashion show in Los Angeles. The makeshift runway was placed over a swimming pool.
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