When I asked Jerry Michaels what his title was and how I should refer to him in this article, he replied, “I buy and I sell and I do other things. I’m not an owner but I have as much power in the company as an owner.” A direct and honest answer from a man who has been in the jobbing business for over 30 years, and who, with his nephew B. Bronson owner Brad Bronson, has developed the company into a highly successful West Coast apparel jobbing company.
The Early Days
In one way or another, Jerry and Brad have been buying and selling apparel for most of their life. In the 1960s and ’70s Jerry’s older brothers, one of whom is Brad’s father, owned and operated Bronson of California, one of the biggest women’s sportswear manufacturers in the country. In fact, Bronson of California was one of the first manufacturers to produce apparel overseas. During their peak years, their volume reached $100 million, a figure practically unheard of in the 1970s.
Jerry and Brad meanwhile were working the Los Angeles swap meet scene and running a couple of discount stores in the LA area. It was the late 1970s. The major discounters were in their infancy.
In 1979, the Bronson brothers sent shock waves through the apparel business world when they decided to retire. Shortly afterwards, Brad’s father, Bob Bronson, went back into manufacturing under the label B. Bronson.
According to Jerry, “We got into jobbing because my brother didn’t want to go directly to the discounters with his merchandise because he thought it would hurt his relationships with regular department store customers. So he sold his excess goods to Brad and me, and we, in turn, started selling to the discounters.”
Gradually, Brad and Jerry started buying small lots from other manufacturers, and peddling the goods to the growing discount and off-price market. Their years at the swap meets served as a good training ground for learning how to negotiate sharp deals, and they started to expand into other product categories. In the early years, the bulk of their business was selling to the major discounters, including the new kid on the block, Ross Stores.
In 1985, Bob Bronson retired. Brad and Jerry continued their successful jobbing business by adapting to the new players in the discount arena, the $10 stores and the cash-and-carry business from Mexico. The apparel market was in flux, as was evident by the growing trend of the discount and off-price phenomenon.
“Back then,” Jerry says, “jobbing was easier. You didn’t have to be a genius to buy goods. When the $10 dollar thing hit, you knew you could sell just about anything for $5. That’s an exaggeration, but it’s the general formula jobbers used.”
Based on the growth of the Mexico business and the popularity of the Bronson label, Brad and Jerry moved back into manufacturing. They opened a warehouse in Mexico City, and their B. Bronson label grew popular with the major retailers throughout Mexico. By drop shipping goods from overseas into their facility in Mexico, they solved the problem that faced many of their Mexican accounts confronted with the risky task of moving goods across the U.S. border. Wal-Mart and Sears Mexico became major accounts.
Then tragedy struck the company in 1998 when Brad’s wife Marika suddenly died. Left with the daunting responsibility of raising his three young daughters, Brad closed the Mexico operation to devote more time with his daughters.
Experience Matters
B. Bronson’s ability to adapt to and find opportunities in an ever changing market is the primary reason behind the company’s success and their survival in the precarious world of jobbing. Today, B. Bronson buys and sells goods in a broad range of product categories. While the company is known primarily for its juniors merchandise, B. Bronson carries a wide assortment of branded kids’, women’s, and men’s goods as well.
“Being in the LA area, which is home to many juniors manufacturers,” says Jerry, “we have great relationships with the major juniors manufacturers and are able to get a lot of their overages—both current goods and fashion forward goods. We have developed solid, long-term relationships with our vendors and are committed to buying all of their overruns and irregulars. We don’t go in and try to pick and choose. That’s not fair to the vendor. We remain loyal to our vendors and won’t back away when they get stuck. As a jobber you have to do this to remain competitive. If you don’t, they will call someone else.”
Given the increased competition among jobbers today, the shrinking of the retail market, and the preponderance of discount chains who want to deal directly with the manufacturer, nurturing vendor relationships is critically important to the success of jobbers today.
“You try to control your sources as best you can,” Jerry says. “Ideally, you want your vendors telling retailers to go to Bronson when they are looking for below wholesale deals.”
Changing with the Times
Jerry and Brad have come a long way since their swap meet days. Today the company functions strictly as a jobber, warehousing goods in a 40,000 square foot facility in Gardena, California. The company maintains a staff of approximately 40 employees, a number of whom have been with the company for over 20 years. Warehouse staff inspect goods on a piece-by-piece basis when they arrive, then sort and pack merchandise according to color and size. Off season goods are packed away for many retailers, a service that customers have come to expect and depend upon in this day of minimal inventory and just-in-time delivery.
B. Bronson carries all the major department store labels. While branded goods are still important in the market, according to Jerry, they are not as critical as they used to be. The paperwork and releases make dealing with brand name good more complicated. Today, the major chains tend to deal directly with the manufacturers, who want to control market exposure of their product.
While gaining access to name brand merchandise has become more difficult, at the same time, consumers’ approach to fashion has undergone subtle changes.
“Today,” says Jerry, “consumers are more item driven than they used to be. Customers want the current look. That’s why jobbers today have to be so flexible. You have to shop the market aggressively to find the right items, the right non-branded goods.”
To remain current with the market, B. Bronson’s buyers do their homework. “We get a lot of direction from our customers,” Jerry says, “and we’re always looking for new sources. We shop the department stores to see what brands they are carrying, then contact those manufacturers to see if they have any goods available. Vendors are a good source of information. There are a lot of private labels out there. It’s word of mouth, getting out there to find the resources.”
From the mom-and-pop stores to the major off-price chains, B. Bronson serves a broad range of customers. One reason for B. Bronson’s success, says Jerry, is that “we carry fashion goods from major department stores. Fashion kids, fashion juniors, plus size—we offer one-stop shopping to our customers.”
Building the Business
B. Bronson has been exhibiting at the Las Vegas Off-Price Specialist Show since the early days at the Debbie Reynolds Hotel. Jerry believes it is important to maintain a presence at the Las Vegas shows because that’s where many of the new accounts are established.
B. Bronson is particularly interested in growing their specialty store business at the Show. Increasingly, specialty stores are realizing and taking advantage of the benefits of inserting off-price goods into their product mix.
“When a new customer sees our product at the show and we ship to them, we pretty much are able to maintain them as a customer because we get the current fashion goods and can provide continuity,” Jerry says. “Having a constant supply of new merchandise is vital, particularly in the juniors market. Juniors customers want to see something new every time they walk into a store. We get new styles weekly, and are able to obtain consistent inventory and size runs at great prices because of our long-term relationships with vendors. We pass those savings on to our customers.”
B. Bronson has seen a dramatic increase in the number of newer accounts that the company has picked up at the Shows. According to Jerry, “Over the past 18 months our specialty store business has increased by 50%. At the February Off-Price Show we opened 25 new specialty store accounts and at the June Show we opened 15 new accounts. That’s terrific.”
Interestingly, B. Bronson sees another advantage in attending the Off-Price Show: that is, non-exhibiting vendors who attend the show looking for jobbers to buy their goods.
“You get a lot of vendors who are looking for new places to unload their merchandise. They may be dissatisfied with their current customers. Or they may not wish to work directly with retailers who tend to pick and choose what they want. The large retailer will want 90-day terms. We get a lot of sourcing leads that way.”
A Winning Strategy
What does the future hold for B. Bronson? In the jobbing industry, that’s always difficult to predict. But as any good jobber will tell you, you have to remain flexible so you can adapt quickly to opportunities as they present themselves.
Jerry says enthusiastically, “Our goal is to continue to expand through our specialty store business. We plan to attend more regional markets in order to expand our account base. We will continue to service our large customers, but we want to remain as flexible and to wear as many different hats as we can.”
Staying limber while remaining stylish—a winning strategy indeed! “After all,” Jerry says, “we’ve been doing it for close to 30 years.”
Welcome to the better edges of dollar and discount store product sourcing from owners Rob and Danny Kole. Check out these profit boosters from Kole Imports: Unique Promo Pallets and Focus on Competitive Closeouts. 
Promo Pallets are turn-key: Pallets are pre-loaded with an assortment of general or single category merchandise, such as toys, hardware, tools, pet or auto supplies. They are delivered to retailers with attractive packaging, in stacked bins, as a store-within-a-store merchandising unit. A retailer need only place the pallet on the selling floor, remove the protective covering and – voila! — Promo Pallet is good to go. 
We are half way through National Sewing Month. But to every crafting ghoul, decorative ghost, SuperMom seamstress and trick-or-treat princess in need of sparkle dust and a feather boa … that means we are six sewing weeks away from the Big H – 
printed with pumpkins, witches, black cats, ghosts, faux fur prints and giant harvest moons
