Textile Mills Are Ignoring Their Most Profitable Customers

US textile mills continue structuring their businesses around large wholesale buyers, even as many of those buyers push down pricing and increase minimums. Meanwhile, smaller brands — often more creative and willing to pay higher margins — are routinely turned away due to outdated volume requirements.

In this episode, Laura Adams, a textile consultant and founder of Kindly Woven, explains why this “big fish only” mindset is contributing to domestic manufacturing decline. We discuss small-batch production, mill minimums, price markups in the distribution chain, and how purchasing decisions directly impact local economies in former textile regions.