Such high quality at such a low price—what's the catch?
There's no catch. There's just an efficient way of doing things.
We can keep our prices low because of our business model. We source directly from the fabric mills in their countries of origin, send them straight to the manufacturer, and from there everything goes straight to our warehouse.
Because we don't have multiple distribution centers, we only need to ship everything 3 times:
- Fabric mill to manufacturer
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- Manufacturer to our warehouse
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- Our warehouse to your address
For reference: other apparel makers may need to ship things up to six times, depending on the number of warehouses and distribution points they have. Each time the garment changes hands, there's a markup. From the manufacturer to warehouse #1. To warehouse #2. To warehouse #3, and then to the store. Sometimes back to the warehouse. Their pricing models are complicated—incorporating in amounts they know they will have to discount for seasonal sales. Amounts they know won't sell, because they've ordered too much. The reason fast fashion adds up is because you're not just paying for the garment—you're also paying for the company's mistakes. That's a steep price to pay for someone else's inefficiencies.
At Grana, we can keep our prices low because our logistics are lean and mean. We order in smaller quantities so we don't waste fabric and manpower. Because we fulfill all our orders online at one point of sale, we don't need to send out massive quantities of stock everywhere in the world and then send it back to HQ or some other far-flung warehouse when it doesn't sell. While our model means we don't discount, it does mean that you'll always be getting the best price possible (it's like a sale that never ends!).
Basically, we live by a simple 3-step code:
- Shipping that makes sense
- The minimum number of middlemen
- 2x markup on the final product
Simplicity is harder than it looks—but that's part of the magic.
Social Consciousness
At Grana, we expect all our business partners to observe the Grana Code of Conduct. The Code is based on international standards for fair labour conditions and fundamental labour rights, as well as national legislations. The principles represent minimum expectations and aspirational goals that Grana has for our supply chains' social conduct and impact. Though our aspirations remain, the minimum expectations may change as our society progresses.
We recognise that improving labour conditions (especially in the apparel supply chain) may require a prolonged process of monitoring, education, capacity building and a significant amount of collaboration from both sides. Improvements will take considerable time, resources and effort. Nonetheless, Grana commits strongly to working closely with our suppliers on continuous improvement and remain open to constructive engagement with stakeholders who are genuinely concerned with social impact.
We believe in respectful and ethical treatment of employees, and in promoting safe and healthy working environments where workers earn fair wages. We pride ourselves in being a sustainable brand that has price transparency for customers to better understand our ethos and the costs involved to produce quality products. Price transparency should become the norm, and we encourage other brands to take this honest stance to change the way brands communicate to customers.