Last updated: Tuesday, 2 June 2009, 20:07 GMT
K&C Clothing is a Profit-Builder for Smaller Retailers Looking for Fashion that
Johnsonville, South Carolina is located between Florence and Charleston, approximately fifty miles from the coastline. For college football fans, it's Gamecock country. Its population as recorded in the 2000 census is 1,418. The economy there is dominated by independent farmers who made the switch from tobacco to corn, soy beans and peanuts. In the apparel trade, there is one "farmer" in this tiny community that has been reaping fantastic deals for independent retailers all over the United States - K&C Clothing.
K&C Clothing (Booth #784) is a ladies' wholesale clothing company specializing in "a younger look, but a missy fit" in sports wear, dresses, and tops at moderate price ranges. They serve "mom & pop" and small chain stores. K&C was started by Kenny Lyerly in 1986, who came up with the concept for his business while working for his father's apparel wholesale group, A&L Clothing.
"Dad dealt with mass merchandisers - KMart, Wal-Mart, who were into discount clothing thirty years ago. He was also a Pentecostal Holynist preacher and decided one day that he couldn't do both. So Dad retired at age 48, and I decided to start a new company that served the smaller guys."
K&C Clothing has 22 employees, including Kenny's wife Cerise, their two sons and their daughter. They don't carry any brands, but produce their own label, Emma-G, named for their granddaughter. In this brief interview, Kenny discusses the benefits of working with family-owned companies and small businesses, and how they will become the economic drivers as retail strives to re-invent itself in this challenging market.
What sets K&C apart from the competition?
We are extremely strong on customer service. We are always looking for repeat customers. We specialize in a younger look, but a missy fit. We're nationwide, but ship everywhere – Puerto Rico, Canada, Virgin Islands, Bahamas.
Since we don't deal in brands, we source terrific alternatives to more expensive goods. For example, we carry jackets at $19 - $24 per unit that retail from $120 - $180. We do the same with skirts and dresses. We've helped a lot of peoples’ businesses over the past few years. We’re a 'profit-builder' for them. They're paying us $16 for a top and retailing them for $49 - $59. That's a great margin for them.
How are you "extremely strong" on customer service?
The one thing I always try to stress to my road sales staff (of four) is that we’re in business together. So if our retail customers do well, we do well. So we always try to point them in the right direction. We may be adding two more sales team members.
More to the point, we help the retailer create a need for the customer to buy. We do this by following two simple rules. First, you've got to have fashion that fits. And then comes price. The days of the customer paying $5 for a top are over. When people buy a $5 top, they buy a $5 top. Our customers are looking to spend $10.90 up to about $17.90 for a quality item that they can mark up based on local conditions.
And like most of our customers, we're a family business. My wife is the secretary; one son does inventory control; the other son takes care of regional shows and handles sample inventory; and my daughter is in the shipping department. We know how important the success of the business is to us, so we treat our employees and customers like family too.
What are some examples of K&C's Success?
Our business has doubled over the last three or four years. We recently moved into a brand-new facility that totals our warehouse space up to 26,000 square feet. (All of our warehouses are in Johnsonville).
We used to own a jewelry company and a handbag company and sold it because it got so big. What's more, the clothing business was growing so fast that we couldn't do both.
When we're showing our goods at the Off Price Show, we accessorize the mannequins with jewelry, and if the customers like what they see, we'll refer them to the jewelry business in Charleston who bought our old company.
What has the Off Price Show meant to K&C?
We've been doing Off Price for about six years now. They helped us bring in a lot of new customers from around the country, including chain stores. The special thing about the Off Price Show is that you are selling to people from all over.
Carol (Show Director Fitzmaurice) is one of the reasons for our success there. She helped me from the first show to the last show. Anything I need, she bends over backwards for me. I think a lot of her - I really do.
We have 10 people working the Off Price Show for K&C, including my wife Cerise, because we connect with so many independent stores and small chains, as well as buying offices that serve this level of retail.
I personally believe that the day of the big department stores is coming to an end, and the small boutique stores are coming back stronger than ever. I believe that consumers have caught on to the big discount stores and their gimmicks, and are much more interested in value and service. So the Off Price Show is the bridge that connects the boutiques with specialist vendors like K&C.
What is hot in women's clothing?
For this fall, ruffles, plaids, and a lot of jackets will be popular. And dresses! Our dress business is really growing.
After working 70-75 hours each week, Kenny and his family play a lot of golf, and do a lot of boating. To learn more about K&C Clothing, visit their new website at www.freewebs.com/kimfox57, or call them at 843.386.3411. You can see them at Booth #784 at the August Off Price Show.