The locational dynamics of the United States knitting industry

Author

John Sharp Fox

Date of Award

6-1982

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Geography

Major Professor

Thomas L. Bell

Committee Members

Leonard W. Brinkman, Bhuvenesh C. Goswami, Bruce A. Ralston

Abstract

The factors that have affected the location of the United States knitting industry are analyzed in this study. A significant portion of that industry has remained in the Northeast, in comparison to the overwhelming relocation of cotton goods production to the Southeast.

It is argued that southern advantages were not responsible for the demise of the cotton goods industry in the Northeast. Evidence is presented that the near collapse of the cotton goods industry in the Northeast between the World Wars was a result of intraregional problems of operating in a mature industrial climate. The South forged ahead in cotton goods production because of the perception of the region as a textile mecca, the result of a history of successful production in coarse yarns and cloths. When operating and sunk capital costs of the southern mill village are factored into production costs, worker productivity was less in the South than in the North.

By contrast, the states of the Northeast dominated knitting production until after World War II in all product types except seamless hosiery. Problems with organized labor drove full-fashioned hosiery production out of Philadelphia, and perception of the South as an advantageous area for hosiery mills led full-fashioned hosiery production to that region. Underwear production gradually shifted from the rural Northeast to the rural South. With the strengthening of the southern market and the mass marketing of knitted outerwear in chain stores after World War II, southern mills became major producers of mass-produced knitted outerwear. This southern expansion has been recently stifled, however, by strong foreign competition. Mills in the Northeast are generally small, ethnic, family-operated ones that exhibit a resistance to organized labor and increased production costs. They generally knit small orders of fashion conscious products, taking advantage of location near major marketing points. They have established a complementary contractor-converter relationship that allows specialization in manufacturing and marketing products. Much knit fabric production migrated to the South after World War II with the expansion of the apparel industry in that region. The role of agglomeration economies with regard to labor-intensive, low margin industries is reassessed.

Recommended Citation

Fox, John Sharp, "The locational dynamics of the United States knitting industry. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1982.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/13235