Sometimes the best referrals for the best American products often come from word of mouth or personal experience. In this article, I feature three American-owned companies that make their goods in the USA: Two of which I have purchased myself, and one of which was recommended to me.
At www.knorts.com, you’ll find denim designs that are done differently since they are knitted and not woven. These unique designs worn by celebrities like Lady Gaga are knitted on looms in Los Angeles with the same indigo-dyed yarns used to weave traditional denim fabric.
Multinational apparel makers source exclusively from large rolls of fabric. Not so with almost all Knorts designs. Most designs are knitted to the exact size and shape needed, from small fabric pieces to precise measurements.
My wife owns no less than five pieces of Knorts designs, and she is set to order even more. The apparel is a little pricey, but as is true with many American-made products, you’ll get a better value with a better-quality product that will last much longer than “supposed-comparable” cheap imports. You certainly won’t find this kind of quality coming from China.
The yarn used by www.knorts.com is referred to as indigo-dyed yarn for knitting (not weaving as in traditional denim) and is not readily available in the United States. However, the search is always on for a domestic supplier.
At www.whitedressshirts.com (WDS), you’ll find another example of a great American-made product without domestic suppliers for certain materials. Regardless of from which company you order your dress shirts, the fabric will be imported. Domestic supply simply does not exist. So as with Knorts.com, buying American with WDS is all about doing what you can where you can to support the most American workers.
I have ordered three dress shirts from WDS and couldn’t be happier with them. The quality is absolutely excellent, so you won’t be lacking in confidence with your appearance – first impression or not.
The best thing about founder Jeff Fletcher’s story of designing fabrics for the fashion trade, including Liz Claiborne and Oscar De la Renta, is that he now has no ties to any department stores. This allows him to streamline the process and offer an American-made, comparable high-end dress shirt below import prices. Shipping directly to you from WDS – not through department stores – will give you the best quality at the best price.
Several years ago, I used to buy Oakley sunglasses until they were acquired in 2007 by Italian-owned Luxottica, the world’s largest eyewear company. Luxottica is a huge company that also owns Ray-Ban, Revo, Arnette, and K&L (formerly Killer Loop) brand sunglasses as well as LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, and Sunglass Hut retail chains.
After Oakley ceased to be an American brand name, I discovered U.S.-based Gatorz sunglasses (www.gatorz.com), which are also proudly made in the USA.
With Gatorz, there is no reason to pay for high-end, imported sunglasses when you could be supporting an American-owned company making a great product in the U.S. with American workers. I have several pairs of Gatorz sunglasses (some of them at least 10 years old), and the quality has stood the test of time.
Much has been said about the low unemployment rate, and because of that, those who advocate imports and could care less about U.S. manufacturing have said that we don’t have to worry about ensuring the products we buy are made in the USA.
But here’s the concern: According to a May 31, 2022, Wall Street Journal article, Daron Acemoglu, who is an economics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says, “factories’ increasing reliance on automation will lead to an oversupply of human labor that will drive down wages in the years ahead unless other U.S. industries can absorb displaced manufacturing workers.”
If this is true (and I believe it will turn out to be so) we need as many U.S. manufacturing jobs as possible in every industry to counter the likely coming oversupply of human labor.
“Automation, if it goes very fast, can destroy a lot of jobs,” Mr. Acemoglu said. “The labor shortage is not going to last. This is temporary.”
Robots are showing up on more assembly lines and factory floors as domestic producers struggle to find enough workers to hire and fill increasing orders.
Orders for robots in U.S. workplaces increased by 40% (a record) during the first three months of 2022 from the same quarter in 2021, according to the robotics industry trade group Association for Advancing Automation.
The bottom line? Continue to focus on American-made products, regardless of the unemployment rate and regardless of what U.S. consumers are spending more money on, which is currently on services like travel. The time will come when our country will more heavily rely on U.S. manufacturing to keep our national prosperity going.
In fact, our national prosperity is good as it is now because of the ability of U.S. consumers to spend. Consumer spending is responsible for 70% of U.S. economic activity. The more money American consumers have in their pockets to spend, the more they can keep American prosperity going.
The key to ongoing national prosperity is employing Americans who work at companies like www.knorts.com, www.whitedressshirts.com, and www.gatorz.com. Buying American may cost a little more at times, but we should not consider it an extra cost but rather as an investment in America, because that is exactly what it is.