Ohio small businesses say a growing interest in American-made products is helping strengthen local manufacturing as the holiday shopping season gets underway.
A new national poll shows most consumers prefer goods made in the United States, and several Ohio companies are featured in this year’s Made in America Holiday Gift Guide. One of those companies is Kikilu House of Style, a Cincinnati-based apparel brand that designs and produces small-batch clothing through Sew Valley, a zero-waste nonprofit garment factory.
Kimberly Anderson, founder and chief style officer of Kikilu House of Style, said she launched the brand after years of styling clients and noticing a gap in quality and long-lasting clothing for women, and she added that keeping production at home was a conscious choice, even when cheaper overseas options were available.
“I could have made my first million had I offshored,” she said. “This is a passion project. I’m OK with that. Why? Because I really want to speak to the people that maybe are saying, ‘Is college for me? Maybe the trades are for me. Maybe setting up a factory and the skills of the people that work at my factory are off the charts.’”
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