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Although the appeal of a particular garment may vary from year to year and embellishments may be added to it, the basic military look continues to be a mainstay on high school and college campuses.
"Army/navy stores cannot stay in business selling mainly to soldiers and veterans," said John Abbasi of Armed Forces Outfitters in Gastonia, North Carolina. "We have to sell fashions."
Young people express their individuality in the clothing they wear, and army/navy stores give them the opportunity to create their own look.
"They don't want to wear something that they can buy in Wal-Mart. We offer them unique merchandise," said Abbasi.
He observes that summer is a particularly strong for youth sales when students are out of school.
"The army/navy store is one of their favorite places to go," he said.
Bright colored garments are among Abbasi's top selling items, especially to women, who buy T-shirts, tops and shorts in a variety of colors, including red and pink, as well as combinations of black and pink and pink and white.
T-shirts are perennially popular and give the retailer a good mark up. Teenagers are willing to spend $12 or $13 for a colorful T-shirt that may cost the retailer as little as three dollars.
Paintball players who come into Abbasi's store for equipment are often accompanied by their girlfriends, creating the opportunity for fashion sales.
"We want to attract women customers to our business," said Abbasi. "Once women wear our products, the men will follow."
Military styles have become dressier, said Rothco's John Ottaviano. Popular items include solid color shirts in khaki, black, and navy blue with epaulettes, to which pins and patches are added to make the garments still more attractive to youth.
In general, sales of camo patterns have declined, but washed vintage fabrics remain strong. Sales of camo BDUs are slower but the BDU style continues to sell well.
"There has been an upswing in digital patterns," Ottaviano explained. "The BDU is not the current military garment. The ACU and Marine digital are. But customers are buying commercial versions of the ACU and Marine digital in a traditional BDU cut. The garment is BDU, but the color is digital."
T-shirt styles have also changed and feature large colorful graphics that that cover the entire garment.
"The traditional T- shirt graphic took up no more than 16 inches of the garment," said Ottaviano. "Now they go from seam to seam. What is presented matters less than the size of the image." Popular Rothco graphics include helicopters and battle scenes.
Hooded sweatshirts, especially with large graphic prints, also remain popular.
Mainly military
In cold weather, the M-65 field jacket is still an army/navy store standard. Ottaviano notes that at the recent MAGIC show, almost every vendor displayed some version of the M-65. Rothco's entries include both the traditional jacket with liner and a vintage, washed version.
Ottaviano advises merchants not to neglect accessories, especially for back-to-school sales. Washed canvas military style bags are an important part of the merchant's inventory.
"People can buy nylon bags almost anywhere, but canvas is something that army/navy stores have almost exclusively to themselves and they should exploit that advantage," said Ottaviano.
Adam Wiggin of Army Barracks in Boston estimates that 75 percent of his customers are high school or college students.
"Our customers go in for the original surplus store look," said Wiggin. "A big fashion store will sell a military style M-65 jacket for hundreds of dollars. We sell the original for $60."
Army dress jackets and Marine tunics are top sellers. Young people add pins and patches to make the garments unique.
The Middle Eastern shemagh, also known as the coalition headscarf has become a popular summer item. It is a versatile and can double as a tablecloth.
Sneakers remain a status symbol, and the traditional Converse models have resurfaced as fashion footwear.
"Converse has made a big turn around," said Wiggin, who does a strong trade in Chuck Taylor All Stars in both low and high tops.
Wiggin has also enjoyed strong sales of Rothco's booty camp underwear to women and almost any type of slogan T-shirt, to both sexes. Army and Marine tees from Rapid Dominance are especially strong. He notes that customers are willing to pay more for tees with softer materials.
Champaign tastes
Ira Wachtel's Champaign Surplus focuses on high-end camping gear and apparel. Located near the University of Illinois, Wachtel does a large student business.
Flip-flops have been strong sellers for years. "During the summer, young people wear them on the street as an everyday shoe," Wachtel said.
In apparel, anything with the North Face label sells well. Quick wicking technical fabrics by North Face, Patagonia and Mountain Hardware are among his top sellers.
Bright colors - orange, green and yellow—are definitely in. Solid whites as well.
Although not a fashion item, summer apparel treated to provide SPF 15 sun protection is popular with both for camping crowd and as street wear.
Wachtel also enjoys strong sales of military style small canvas bags from Rothco and Fox.
Dave's Army Navy benefits as the only men's clothing store in the college town of Oberlin, Ohio.
Owner Dave Parsh does well with canvas footwear from Vans. He notes that Vans were featured several years ago in the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High and remain a popular fashion shoe.
"They are both retro and new," said Parsh, who also enjoys strong sales of Converse sneakers.
Canvas is definitely popular with the youth market, in footwear or bags by Fox and Rothco.
Parsh observes that high school and college students do not differ markedly in their buying habits.
"If you were to split hairs, the college students tend to buy more canvas." he said.
Headwear is one of Parsh's strongest categories. During the summer, he sells large numbers of Rothco's vintage, pre-washed BDU hats. In the winter, the same customers buy Jeep hats.
author: By Howard Prosnitz