Fashion Industry Databases & Directories: Guides to Apparel Companies in the USA and Canada

What These Databases Cover

Every guide in this list answers the same basic business question — which companies do what, and where — but each one cuts the industry a different way. The categories of resources include manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, retailers, mass merchandisers and sales representatives, across apparels, textiles, home furnishings and accessories firms in the USA and Canada. A manufacturer looking for retail accounts, a sales representative looking for new lines, and a retailer looking for suppliers all start from the same kind of compiled information: company names, addresses, executives, product types and market categories, gathered into one place so the search does not have to begin from scratch for every prospect.

Used together, the databases let a business locate apparel retailers, buyers, sales reps, manufacturers, importers, sewing contractors, textile mills, converters, fabric stores and home furnishing fabric stores in the USA and Canada. No single volume covers all of that: sourcing sourcebooks list the suppliers of fabrics and trims, manufacturers registers list the companies that make apparel, marketplace volumes list the wholesalers, importers and exporters in between, and buyers guides list the retailer executives on the buying side. Choosing the right guide means matching the volume to the side of the trade being searched.

Print, Disk, PDF and Email Formats

These publications are available in the formats working sales offices actually use. Hard copy directories suit a desk reference that a whole team can share. Computer disk and PDF files suit a business that wants to sort, filter and print its own extracts. Delivery electronically by email suits a customized list ordered for a specific campaign. The format question matters because a directory is only useful if it fits the way the list will be worked: a printed register is read, while a disk or PDF list can be merged into mailing and call programs. When ordering, it is worth confirming which formats the chosen guide offers, because the publishers in this list differ.

Customized Lists

A distinctive feature of the databases gathered here is customization. Many of them can be customized geographically, by sales volume, by the types of garments handled, and with other selection features, so the firms delivered are the appropriate firms in the USA and Canada for the buyer's purpose. A seller of women's sportswear in the Northeast does not need a national list of every apparel manufacturer; a customized list can be limited to the garment types, regions and company sizes that match the line. Customization is the difference between a directory as a book and a database as a sales tool, and it is one reason these compiled lists remain in use alongside general web searching.

The Guides in This List

Nine guides and one finding service make up the list. The Fashiondex Apparel Fabrics, Services & Trims Sourcebook covers sourcing: the suppliers of fabrics, trims and production services. The Directory of Brand Name Apparel Manufacturers and Private Label, also from Fashiondex, covers brand name manufacturers and importers. The National Register volumes cover apparel manufacturers, the apparel marketplace of wholesalers, importers and exporters, fashion accessories, and independent sales reps. Fabric Marketing Research offers custom made directories and apparel retailer directories built to order. The Briefings Media Salesman Buyer Guides cover the buyers at retail. Finally, Hard to Find Fashion Companies is the route for a company that none of the lists turns up. Each guide has its own page in this section, linked in the navigation above, describing what it lists and what information each listing gives.

Who Uses Industry Databases

Sales departments use them to build prospect lists for new territories and new lines. Manufacturers use them to find contractors, importers and retail accounts. Sales representatives use them to find lines to carry and stores to sell them to. Retailers and buyers use them in the other direction, to find manufacturers and brands. Researchers use them to understand the structure of the trade: how many firms make a garment type, where they are concentrated, and how the wholesale marketplace is organized. Whatever the purpose, the value of a database is the same — verified, organized company information that would take far longer to assemble one company at a time.