|
|
Article: Idealists failed to make the cut in sweatshop game.(Up Front)
- Article from:
- Los Angeles Business Journal
- Article date:
- May 17, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 CBJ, L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream co-founder Ben Cohen bad launched a unionized clothing business to show that apparel manufacturers could be profitable without using sweatshop labor.
A little more than two years later, Sweat X, which made T-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets, has shuttered its Molino Street factory in downtown Los Angeles.
The company suffered a range of problems, from management mistakes to the built-in challenges that small, unionized factories confront when competing with larger operations.
"People like our product and they like the fact that it's union-made," said Rick Roth, who was brought in as chief executive last October. ...