And in another part of town, two women from China sew tickets and bar codes on the suits Pincus makes for Brooks Brothers, Bill Blass and other well-known labels. The women are among the fewer than 4,000 unionized garment industry workers left in Philadelphia, down from 26,000 during the heyday of the 1950s. But come May 4, they too will lose their jobs. That's when second-generation owner David Pincus starts contracting out the work, most of it overseas. You just can't manufacture in the United States.
Nobody cares anymore where it's made.
Pincus, who makes only menswear, held out longer than most in the industry's struggle against imports and casual business wear. The long-shrinking garment industry in the United States now has 763,000 workers, a number that is expected to drop under 600,000 over the next seven years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. She's 53 years old. She didn't become a millionaire for working these 32 years. While low compared to many other sectors, it's still enough to break a manufacturer, whose overseas competitors pay only a fraction of that wage.