Smaller school retailers are fit for competition

The increased demand for adult sizes to outfit high school students has brought an entire new group of customers to these year-round uniform retailers, Mr. Silverman agrees. “In the last five years, four high schools have gone to adult sizes,” he said, which has been a boon to sales. National chains such as Walmart, Target, Kmart and TJ Maxx also have noticed the increase in schools adopting uniform policies and have jumped on the uniform bandwagon. The increased competition is affecting some uniform retailers in a negative way even with the increasing market size. School Uniform Center at 3734 Pearl Road in Cleveland has noticed decreased business in the last two years, said Ahmed Paterno, co-owner and manager of the store. Mr. Paterno said he must work to compete with big retailers such as Walmart and Old Navy for customers. But he thinks being open year round and offering coupons directly to schools with uniform policies during the back-to-school season helps keep him afloat. Mr. Carroll has seen the rise in competition at Schoolbelles, too. “In the past two years our sales have stalled due to competition in the market,” he said. “It's difficult for a company like mine to compete with large chain retailers because of their buying power.” However, Schoolbelles has been a Cleveland staple for 57 years, Mr. Carroll said, and it knows how to compete with the chains.One way is by creating what Mr. Carroll called “wholesaling partnerships” with various schools, in which Schoolbelles allows schools to buy the uniforms at wholesale prices and sell them directly to students at a profit. Although the wholesale program has the potential to benefit schools financially, Mr. Carroll prefers to handle the logistics of the sales through Schoolbelles, allowing the school districts to concentrate on educating. As an alternative to wholesaling, Schoolbelles will give schools that qualify — based on a minimum level of sales and commitment to the Schoolbelles brand, among other things — a commission payment. “I can tell you that Schoolbelles has given back millions of dollars,” Mr. Carroll said. Coupons targeted at specific schools help keep the relationship between retailer and educator strong as well. Both Silverman's and School Uniform Center offer coupons through websites of schools with uniform policies.