J.C. PENNEY – AMERICAN LIVING MADE IN CHINA
Posted by Charlotte A. Weybright on June 24, 2008
Just a brief note to share with you consumers. For quite some time now, I have been receiving ads about J.C. Penney’s new line of clothing and household items labeled “American Living.” I kept wondering each time I got an ad whether or not the products were made in America – since it was called American Living. I finally got the opportunity last week to do some shopping at our local J.C. Penney store at Glenbrook.
As I was browsing through clothing items looking for an outfit to wear to the Saturday convention, I saw a rack with American Living clothing. The light bulb went on, and I thought what an opportunity. Let’s see if a line of clothing with the name “American Living” would be made in America or if, as I suspected, it carried the all-too-familiar “Made in China” label.
I won my own bet. The labels do, indeed, say “Made in China.” How in your face can one company get?
J. Q. Taxpayer said
Well the furniture from China will soon be going up in price and by no small amount. Shipping large heavey items like furniture, steel, machines, farm equipment, lawn equipment, and other heavy items will be going up by 15 to 20 percent. The reason, getting materials to China and then shipping the finshed goods to America comes on ships. These ships base shipping charge on weight. It takes a great deal dollars to push that ship across the ocean to US ports.
The first step the China is undertaking is slowing the ships down so they get a little better economy with regard to their fuel use. This will also translate into longer lead times for companies ordering products. China does not get their money for weeks longer because of this.
So in a sad way high oil prices will bring some businesses back to the US or products already being made here will beable to compete against the lower wages of China because of high transporation costs.
In fact we may find some farmers getting back into producing some foods that had stopped because they could not compete with the low cost labor and so forth from some parts of the world.
What you are going to see if more warehouses come back online here in the Midwest. Companies will once again move mass volumes by rail to a Midwest wharehouse. Then truck it short distances to end user stores. Keep in mind trains use a fraction of the fuel that 100 semi trucks use.
Just like Kroger use to have a large wharehouse operation here in Fort Wayne (near Fort Wayne International Airport). It was closed in part because Kroger believed it was cheaper to railroad cars loaded with product shipped to Cincy and then trucked here. Even though the Fort Wayne operation had indoor rail service.
Their savings came on reducing required office staff, wharehouseman, building, and support staff. Now the savings was not total as they needed some of the above mentioned people in Cincy but overall they cut the operation mostly because low cost fuel allowed them to.
I don’t know if you have ever stopped at the little A&W Root Beer place in Antwerp. Every time we go that way we stop there for a COLD BEER. I count the semi trucks that travel US24. In an hour there are over 78 semis heading either east or west on this one highway. One has to wonder how many of those trucks will disappear shortly and start ridding the rails.
So China and India has a very big interest in getting fuel costs down. They are going to loose the business they have gained. I forget where I just read it that export steel out of China is down by double digets. However, US production numbers is up a great percentage.
So in a sick way high fuel prices may be a little blessing for businesses here in the US. Then again many of these businesses, if they leave China, will relocate to Mexico.