Levi Strauss Closes Last Two U.S. Plants

Fox News ^ | Thursday, January 08, 2004 | AP

[looscnnn]

SAN ANTONIO

[-YYZ-]

Yeah, but the funny thing is that I now buy store-brand jeans that are equal or better quality than Levis, made in Canada, and cost less than comparable Levis that are now all made in cheap labour countries. Funny how that works.

[looscnnn]

http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/

[brownsfan]

What we need is Congress to get up the balls and pass a bill that says that any company that does the majority of production outside the country is considered a foreign company, irregardless of where the headquarters is located. Then their products will be taxed like all imports. I think this would keep a majority of production in America.

It would be a darned good start! I'm all for it. Any ideas how to get it rolling grass roots? I can email my congressman, but, there is strength in numbers. My opinion alone carries little weight. (Even if I am right!) :)

[Cronos]

Hey, look here, the company seems to be sorry, but it's shareholders are forcing it to go abroad. And why? Because Joe Public doesn't buy LEvi's, because Joe Public wants $10 jeans and he doesn' care where they're made. So, to blame Levi's doesn't seem quite fair -- they are losing market share and I don't know, but I'd guess nearly all other denim manufacturers make jeans outside the country -- the number one being Walmart

[TomSmedley]

Wonder if their decline in sales had anything to do with their corporate acceptance of homosexuals and lesbians.

Yep. I wondered the same thing. Their earnings began to plummet about the time they shafted the Boy Scouts for being morally straight.

[tiamat]

kcvl wrote:

workers earning an average of $10 to $12 per hour

***********************************

And it is not as if you can support a family on wages like that.

Gotta ask yourself, too: "How many pairs of jeans do I REALLY need?"

Part of the problem we have in this country is we are addicted to having STUFF.

Tia

[brownsfan]

Yeah, but the funny thing is that I now buy store-brand jeans that are equal or better quality than Levis, made in Canada, and cost less than comparable Levis that are now all made in cheap labour countries. Funny how that works.

Lazy management! Rather than fix their management style, (or God forbid, admit they are doing things wrong!). They simply blame their problems on labor costs, and offshore. Very similar to the outsourcing movement that went on about 15 years ago. Businesses would outsource different "non-core" elements. Only to find it cost more in the long run, especially intangibles, loyalty, dedication, extra effort. Things that the bean counters don't factor into their figures! The Japanese still make MANY things. And they produce them cheaply. And generally, they pay their people reasonable wages. It can be done here!

[Wolfie]

Hmmm....representng the people instead of the corporations. How novel.

[A. Patriot]

I haven't worn them for years. Levis are the "gay jean", not to be confused with the elusive "gay gene"

[RiflemanSharpe]

Their sales started to slide when they decided to concentrate on the urban market and ignore the rural and blue collar market. Wrangler (what I am wearing now) moved into these markets and has a large share, the sponsor rodeo and other events. Wrangler still has a large portion of its production in the US. They also have not to my knowledge voiced opinion one on any politics.

[looscnnn]

This is the dilema I have at the moment with gun rights. The solution I have come up with is to form a non profit org. and get consumers/workers to do a march on DC, a la Million Mom march, and lobby congress. I have come to the conclusion that do it yourself and you are just some schmuck to them, do it as a non profit, or such, and you will have more weight to your words.

[templar]

Once, more than 4 million pairs of jeans were made here each year by workers earning an average of $10 to $12 per hour.

10-12 bucks an hour isn't particularly good wages. These workers are lucky to see their jobs head overseas, really. Now they can retrain for high paying careeres as IT professionals, rocket scientists, etc.

[petitfour]

We don't buy Levi's jeans because we've been boycotting them for years. It isn't because of the price of their product.

[looscnnn]

Skip the IT professions, they are outsourcing them overseas and bringing in foriegns using L1 & H1 visas.

[Cronos]

What we need is Congress to get up the balls and pass a bill that says that any company that does the majority of production outside the country is considered a foreign company,

Then Levi's would go under, and so would all the other apparel manufacturers as Joe Public would buy the cheaper Chinese goods. Tariff the Chinese goods you say? Well, they'd still be cheaper, maybe a bit lesser in quality (then again maybe not) but still cheaper. And what happens? All the American apparel comapnies fold and whatever money was coming into America as corporate profit would dry up.

[Tancred]

I heard a story that when Levis started selling to Wal-Mart that they were forced to cut their prices so Wal-Mart would buy from them: thus, lowering quality in their jeans and moving overseas for cheaper labor. I no longer wear Levis; I buy Gap jeans now because they fit better.

[kcvl]

Levis... In 1982, a group of company employees asked senior management for help in increasing awareness of a new and deadly disease affecting their lives. We quickly became a business leader in promoting AIDS awareness and education.


http://www.levistrauss.com/about/vision/


Our federal government funds AIDS research 10x more than they do cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc. ------------------------------------------------------------- Research on AIDS(a preventable disease) has been much more generously funded by the federal government during the past decade than has research on breast and prostate cancer and other diseases that kill many more people. The sizable payoff from the liberal funding of AIDS research seen in the remarkable progress in cutting deaths from AIDS suggests that greater resources devoted to other diseases will lead to important discoveries. Cancer and heart disease expenditures will be equal to under 5 percent of patient cost, and AIDS research funding will be about 230 percent greater than patient costs this year(Fumento 530). Now we are going GLOBAL...AIDS in Africa.

[looscnnn]

I don't buy that answer. The price difference between the imports and domestic made will not be much different, but with advertising, the domestic made will get more sales. If you had to choose between Levi's (import) and Arizona Jean Co. (domestic) jeans and the difference is $3.00, which will you buy?

[chimera]

You can either pay more for merchandise or move jobs overseas. You can't have it both ways. Check out your labels and see how many products that you buy are made overseas. WalMart's parking lot is not full because they have great customer service.

I checked the labels and prices while shopping for a sweatshirt the other day. The one labeled "Made in USA" was something like $29.19. The one made in China was priced at $27.89. The domestic variety looked better and had a better feel, so I bought it. The price difference was minimal, so I went with what I thought was a better product.

Now, what do you think the difference was in the cost or production? Maybe the one made here cost $15 to produce, the one made in China maybe $4, adding in costs for transport and tariffs (if any). So where does the savings in cost go? Not all that much to the consumer, is my guess.

That's the hell of it. So many people buy into the lie that by moving manufacturing overseas the American consumer is going to realize such huge savings. That's BS. The company is still going to charge you whatever they think you're willing to pay, and pocket the difference. That certainly helps the corporate quarterly bottom line, and may get the CEO his/her $20 million bonus, but the consumer is still paying just about what they would otherwise.

[Happy2BMe]

"They also needed to make amends with some of the consumers about things like the Boy Scouts and HCI."

The homosexual agenda killed the Levi Strauss Company.

They erred greatly when they began attacking the sons of some of their largest customers and supporters - The Boy Scouts of America.

They paid are will continue to pay, and rightfully so - all the way into a dot in the history books.

Levi Straus is a perfect example of the negative impact of social homosexual engineering attempts by that perverted and desperate lot seeking to push their way of life on normal society.

Good riddance.