Hit by Chinese imports, Argentina’s textile industry is reeling

[Ries]

I buy boxers at places like this- this particular one has a 70,000 peso minimum order, which means about a dozen pairs.

Boxers

Comprá online productos de Boxers desde $750. Tenemos boxer dufour art. 11748 hombre algodon estampado elastico visible t. s al xxl, boxer g3 art. 3900 hombre pierna corta algodon liso t. s al...

www.casamario.com.ar

Some of the sale models are as cheap as 3000, others are in the 5000 range.

 

[Ries]

At the official Pampero store, the Cotton Long Sleeve work shirt is currently 29,000 pesos. thats about 20 dollars at todays exchange rate.

Camisa De Trabajo

pampero.com.ar

On Amazon, in the USA, I buy Hickory stripe work shirts from China or Pakistan, they are usually between $35 and $50 dollars.
If I buy Carhartt brand work shirts, or Wranglers, they are usually $50 and up. The cheapest Wrangler cotton long sleeve is $30.
So the Pampero's which are the most expensive argentine brand of workwear, are 2/3 the price of the cheapest US sold product, and they are all made in Mexico or Asia.
I often wear Ombu, as well, and their shirts are about 5000 pesos cheaper than Pampero.

obviously where you buy things, and what brand, affects price.
I was in Catamarca, and shopped the factory outlet for a big workwear manufacturer, and new shirts were half of CABA retail.
I am not recommending buy all your clothes at Patio Bullrich- I am a savvy shopper of deals, sales, outlets, and wholesalers in Once.
But the wholesale barrier here in Argentina is virtually nonexistent- I can usually pay cash and get wholesale for purchases well below 100 dollars.
There is no way I could buy Levis, or Wranglers or Carhartt wholesale in the USA for less than thousands of dollars minimum orders, proof of a resale certificate, and, usually, proof of a brick and mortar store.

I have been crashing the wholesale barrier since about 1970, and its so easy to buy direct from manufacturers here, meaning all kinds of things are much cheaper.

 

[LuckyLuke]

I have been crashing the wholesale barrier since about 1970, and its so easy to buy direct from manufacturers here, meaning all kinds of things are much cheaper.

This is a very astute point that I'm surprised most expats haven't figured out by now. There is very little wholesale barrier here in Argentina. Your typical Verduleria doesn't have some "direct to farm exclusive contract" BS that your average US monopolistic grocers have. These verdulerias are just loading up their rastrojero at a central wholesale market and trucking it to a premium location so they charge you twice the price.

Granted, I've been to the wholesale food market here in Neuquen and it's utter pandemonium. Airplane hangars full of produce, bolivians everywhere. You can get a 15 kilo bag of lettuce for $10,000, a literal dumpster bag full of lettuce, but what on earth will you do with that much lettuce? Some people get together with their friends and buy in bulk to split up the cost benefits. However, when you consider the time to pick it up, weigh everything, divvy it up evenly and waiting for each person to pay their portion, you basically come to the conclusion that you've become a defacto verduleria yourself. Except nobody is paying you for any of the work. It certainly taught me that the verduleria's margin isn't as ridiculous as I once thought when you add the rent and employees as well.

But for those who have more time than money and a deep freezer or interest in canning, you can certainly take advantage of more preservable produce in bulk quantity discounts.

 

[Ries]

there are a lot of group buy verduleria groups in CABA,where you place an order once a week, and get a grocery bag full of vegetables. We used to do one that we picked up at a local store- they would do a base level bag for a fixed price, usually about ten dollars, which was a weeks worth, then you could add individual extras, like, say, strawberries in season. Since they just made a couple of dozen deliveries, rather than hundreds, the handling was much less, and it was much cheaper than shopping at a verduleria, but much less work than going to the big mercado central on the way to ezieza.
we also have a regular vendor at the Sabe La Tierras who sells organic veggies, eggs, and fruits. We have been regulars long enough that we can whats app an order, and they deliver on their way back to the country. This is a very argentine personal relationship thing, that would never happen up north- you get to know somebody, and they do things for you that no US vendor would ever do.
Argentina is all about small family owned businesses, and personal relationships.
If you dont make friends, if you dont ask, I suppose you would never know, but we have had this happen over almost 2 decades, for everything from contractors to yarn stores to antique dealers to veggie sellers- its how the world works here.

 

[Konner_Long]

I buy boxers at places like this- this particular one has a 70,000 peso minimum order, which means about a dozen pairs.

Boxers

Comprá online productos de Boxers desde $750. Tenemos boxer dufour art. 11748 hombre algodon estampado elastico visible t. s al xxl, boxer g3 art. 3900 hombre pierna corta algodon liso t. s al...

www.casamario.com.ar

Some of the sale models are as cheap as 3000, others are in the 5000 range.

At the official Pampero store, the Cotton Long Sleeve work shirt is currently 29,000 pesos. thats about 20 dollars at todays exchange rate.

Camisa De Trabajo

pampero.com.ar

On Amazon, in the USA, I buy Hickory stripe work shirts from China or Pakistan, they are usually between $35 and $50 dollars.
If I buy Carhartt brand work shirts, or Wranglers, they are usually $50 and up. The cheapest Wrangler cotton long sleeve is $30.
So the Pampero's which are the most expensive argentine brand of workwear, are 2/3 the price of the cheapest US sold product, and they are all made in Mexico or Asia.
I often wear Ombu, as well, and their shirts are about 5000 pesos cheaper than Pampero.

obviously where you buy things, and what brand, affects price.
I was in Catamarca, and shopped the factory outlet for a big workwear manufacturer, and new shirts were half of CABA retail.
I am not recommending buy all your clothes at Patio Bullrich- I am a savvy shopper of deals, sales, outlets, and wholesalers in Once.
But the wholesale barrier here in Argentina is virtually nonexistent- I can usually pay cash and get wholesale for purchases well below 100 dollars.
There is no way I could buy Levis, or Wranglers or Carhartt wholesale in the USA for less than thousands of dollars minimum orders, proof of a resale certificate, and, usually, proof of a brick and mortar store.

I have been crashing the wholesale barrier since about 1970, and its so easy to buy direct from manufacturers here, meaning all kinds of things are much cheaper.

These are great recommendations. Thanks Ries!

What outlets in Once would you recommend for clothing or housewares if you know of any?

This is a very astute point that I'm surprised most expats haven't figured out by now. There is very little wholesale barrier here in Argentina. Your typical Verduleria doesn't have some "direct to farm exclusive contract" BS that your average US monopolistic grocers have. These verdulerias are just loading up their rastrojero at a central wholesale market and trucking it to a premium location so they charge you twice the price.

Granted, I've been to the wholesale food market here in Neuquen and it's utter pandemonium. Airplane hangars full of produce, bolivians everywhere. You can get a 15 kilo bag of lettuce for $10,000, a literal dumpster bag full of lettuce, but what on earth will you do with that much lettuce? Some people get together with their friends and buy in bulk to split up the cost benefits. However, when you consider the time to pick it up, weigh everything, divvy it up evenly and waiting for each person to pay their portion, you basically come to the conclusion that you've become a defacto verduleria yourself. Except nobody is paying you for any of the work. It certainly taught me that the verduleria's margin isn't as ridiculous as I once thought when you add the rent and employees as well.

But for those who have more time than money and a deep freezer or interest in canning, you can certainly take advantage of more preservable produce in bulk quantity discounts.

This is something I have noticed that migrants forget here. They grow up with Supers and Hypers that have great deals and then come here and expect that same setup to apply, when in fact here it feels like the opposite. You pay for the convenience of "everything" being in one place and for the convenience of smaller packs.

The smaller tiendas and "-ias" almost always have cheaper options than Supers. Case in point, I picked up 1kg of oats at a dietetica which was decanted from a larger bag for no more than ARS 2000, probably less. I could not find more than 400g pack of oats at Carrefour Hyper which cost closer to ARS 3500.

 

[Ries]

An amusing result of me googling to get the links for these work shirts- my internet feed is now FULL of ads for work shirts- denim, twill, chambray, striped- and, every single one, probably 2 dozen different brands now, is at least $100, and many are between $150 and $200. These are not designer, or even all that trendy- they are just casual shirts, some cowboy style with snaps, other slightly fancier looking carhartt knockoffs.
This is what people spend in the US these days,for a shirt your wife will let you wear to a restaurant...
Makes that sub $20USD pampero look even better, to me.

 

[Ries]

Where did you get the 4k pesos underwear? 4K can't get you a pound of ground beef, also a plastic chair at Vea is labeled 40,000 pesos.

Do you have some articles where I can read about your referring quote "Argentina actually makes a lot of stuff that other countries want to buy"?
Really curious about it, everyday is a school day.

I have been on about this for 15 years here.
The Shoe industry. Aside from name brand multinational shoes like Nike, which are made at a group of over 100 interlocking factories in Vietnam, and china to an ever decreasing degree, Argentina has more of a surviving shoe industry than practically anywhere. Certainly more than the USA, or the UK, or most european countries. Italy makes a very few very expensive shoes, Germany still makes some shoes.
Argentina makes everything. soles, grommets, laces, fabrics, zippers, insoles, glues, machinery- all made here.
And quality is as good as you are willing to pay for.
There are places that will hand a carve you a pair of lasts of your feet, and make shoes to fit you and only you.
Its all here.

 

[sergio]

I have been on about this for 15 years here.
The Shoe industry. Aside from name brand multinational shoes like Nike, which are made at a group of over 100 interlocking factories in Vietnam, and china to an ever decreasing degree, Argentina has more of a surviving shoe industry than practically anywhere. Certainly more than the USA, or the UK, or most european countries. Italy makes a very few very expensive shoes, Germany still makes some shoes.
Argentina makes everything. soles, grommets, laces, fabrics, zippers, insoles, glues, machinery- all made here.
And quality is as good as you are willing to pay for.
There are places that will hand a carve you a pair of lasts of your feet, and make shoes to fit you and only you.
Its all here.

Who do you recommend for custom made shoes?

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

At the official Pampero store, the Cotton Long Sleeve work shirt is currently 29,000 pesos. thats about 20 dollars at todays exchange rate.

Camisa De Trabajo

pampero.com.ar

On Amazon, in the USA, I buy Hickory stripe work shirts from China or Pakistan, they are usually between $35 and $50 dollars.
If I buy Carhartt brand work shirts, or Wranglers, they are usually $50 and up. The cheapest Wrangler cotton long sleeve is $30.
So the Pampero's which are the most expensive argentine brand of workwear, are 2/3 the price of the cheapest US sold product, and they are all made in Mexico or Asia.
I often wear Ombu, as well, and their shirts are about 5000 pesos cheaper than Pampero.

obviously where you buy things, and what brand, affects price.
I was in Catamarca, and shopped the factory outlet for a big workwear manufacturer, and new shirts were half of CABA retail.
I am not recommending buy all your clothes at Patio Bullrich- I am a savvy shopper of deals, sales, outlets, and wholesalers in Once.
But the wholesale barrier here in Argentina is virtually nonexistent- I can usually pay cash and get wholesale for purchases well below 100 dollars.
There is no way I could buy Levis, or Wranglers or Carhartt wholesale in the USA for less than thousands of dollars minimum orders, proof of a resale certificate, and, usually, proof of a brick and mortar store.

I have been crashing the wholesale barrier since about 1970, and its so easy to buy direct from manufacturers here, meaning all kinds of things are much cheaper.

What about those of us who don't want to talk around looking like a portero?

 

[Jimbob]

What about those of us who don't want to talk around looking like a portero?

Laburante