BSA merchandise should be "Made in America" not China - Online Petition

[Abel Magwitch]

An update since my letter was sent to Mr. Mazzuca: The link to World Organization of the Scout Movement that listed the 6 countries with no scouting has been removed from their web site.

 

China now has a new web site showing that there is scouting in mainland China.

 

http://sac.clubspaces.com/Default_css.aspx

 

China is now stating that they recognize individual self worth as written in their vision and mission section.

 

"We recognize the importance of individuals developing a sense of personal identity and self worth which leads to responsible citizenship"

 

It appears that within the last two months of my letter being sent to Mr. Mazzuca, suddenly mainline China has Scouting. So I guess it's now ok to do business with China. ;-)

 

Too bad the Scouts of China are still not free and still cannot be part of the largest youth organization of the free world.

 

[Wilton125]

US Military Uniforms are made in the USA; probably because of a Federal Government law.

 

So there must be vendors that produce uniforms for the US military that would like the additional business from BSA.

 

According to Wikipedia, there are 2.9 million Scouts and 1.1 million leaders; that is a significant potential marketplace.

 

I find it hard to believe that there are NO US manufacturers that would want this business!

 

[Wilton125]

BSA National Should Be Ashamed!

 

1. BSA chooses to have official uniforms made in a country that doe s not allow Scouting.

 

2. BSA offers inferior quality to its membership at higher prices.

 

3. BSA increases its margin on between uniform wholesale and retail costs

 

This is just wrong; it reflects poorly on BSA National!

[upnorthmn]

Once upon a time, uniforms used to be found at Sears and JC Penney's.

How about finding a new major retailer to partner with? Walmart? Target?

One that would tolerate our national boards discriminatory policies?

[RememberSchiff]

Hurray for the Girl Scouts for supporting American Labor.

 

"The owners of a family-run Passaic, New Jersey, factory that has been the main supplier of Girl Scout uniforms and sashes for years were told recently that the organization would be seeking bids for the job including from a company in China.

 

Girl Scouts spokeswoman Michelle Tompkins said the organization, which has its national headquarters in New York City, had been contacted by parents, members and volunteers urging it to keep the uniforms American-made. She said the contract hadn't been awarded but the bid request had been modified to require that the uniforms be made domestically and that companies adhere to strict guidelines regarding worker age, treatment and safety."

 

Read the rest at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39958626

 

[ScoutBox]

Good one on the Girl Scouts..

 

Although i don't agree with National having non American companies making the Scout Uniform. It's also National fault about the Quality of the Scout Uniform. If you want a better made uniform from China is can be done and is done every day. I would be from my experience with China and and several other countries within the clothing line, that the BSA pays very little per uniform shirt. I would even bet that the cost is around 400% marked up. That it probably only cost around 4-5 buck to make each shirt and ship it to the US. National could have the Chinese make a better uniform if it wanted too. Not a difficult thing too do. But they are getting by on the cheap. They are thinking that a boy uses a shirt for a max of 2 years afterwards he grows out of it. They it is passed on as a second hand shirt, and the BSA iron on over the pocket comes off in the wash. So it's pretty much no longer usable. This forces parents to go out a buy new uniforms which puts the money back into national instead of someone on e-bay. This goes to prove that the guy with the MBA running this at National is making the decisions and not Scouters. I myself think that a durable uniform that last forever would help Pack and Troops better then a throw away uniform like what's being made at the moment. And I can only assume that all of you feel the same. It can be passed down and reused again and again. I keep all of my sons trousers, which he seems to grow out of faster then the shirt. So I offer them to other boys in the Troop. This also gets other boys into a more complete uniform then what we already have.

 

Mike B.

[Stosh]

To go along with this new marketing trend of BSA they are going to be offering next year two new business MB's - 1) Foreign Outsourcing and 2) Circumventing Child Labor Laws. In today's US business world there shouldn't be any problem finding MB leaders.

 

Stosh

[Wilton125]

Readers of this thread will probably appreciate this Youtube video:

 

"A Disappointed Scout" on YouTube

 

(This message has been edited by Wilton125)

[wermy]

There have been a lot of posts on here saying that people aren't going to pay more for the American made uniforms over the chinese made uniforms. Bull****. I have had one of the old style American made uniforms for 5 years. It has gone through 8 1-week long camps as well as a Jamboree. That uniform shirt shows absolutely no sign of wear, just starting to get a little small. I have friends that bought the new chinese made uniform last year and it is already starting to fall apart. The velcro on the pockets fell off, the buttons come off, the BSA logo is peeling off. And the new uniform is only a couple less bucks than the old uniform and the old, American made uniform holds up for up to 5-10 times as long. Personally, I'd be willing to buy the old uniform over the new uniform even in the old uniform cost $50 and the new $20. For the quality that the American made uniform had, there is no comparison. Until the BSA makes all of their uniform parts in the United States of America, I do not intend to buy any parts of the uniform directly from Scoutstuff. I plan to continue to resort to ebay for the better quality old American made uniforms.

[neil_b]

Trouble is when I started they said the reason uniform prices were so high was they were made un USA, but when they switched I don't think the prices went down.

 

However, before starting petition would have been better to get feedback here first. Your petition is worded to be specific to you, which does not make sense for something you want other people to sign.

[jrush]

Of course the prices didn't go down, because the "profit" is one of national's funding streams. I'm surprised they didn't go up.

 

That being said, it doesn't make any sense for the BSA to accept a poor-quality uniform from the manufacturer, because they have a lifetime guarantee against defect. Come on, BSA, the things are made in China or Bangladesh or somewhere else where some embroidery, buttonholes and double stitching only adds a buck or two.

 

That being said, by the time you embroider the letters on, sew the flag on, overstitch the stress points and buttons, cut off the velcro and get buttonholes done, you have invested considerable time and money into the shirt and pants to make them what they should've been to start with.

 

 

[BartHumphries]

There's a really simple solution to getting cheap and high-quality uniforms made in the USA: capitalism. Instead of choosing one company and giving them a monopoly, allow clothing companies to license themselves just like badge companies can. Then institute an order tracking policy -- each customer gets a a number printed on the receipt and can go online or call in and leave a message regarding their order. Save that order tracking number and go back in six months and again in one year to leave a message about how much use the uniform has received and how it's holding up.

 

The market will soon self correct and companies will either make a name for good uniforms made in the USA at a good price or they will get out of the BSA uniform business. If there ever comes a time when no US companies are willing to step up to the bar, then uniforms can be purchased outside the country.

 

Before buying outside the USA, some sort of call or notice or referendum should have gone around. Just because the people at National weren't aware of clothing companies still operating in the USA doesn't mean there aren't any. There still are.

[liquidzoo]

I understand the desire for any company or organization to seek the lowest operating cost for its products to maximize profits.

 

That said, I recently bought one of the Centennial uniforms (the $30 one) when I became a leader for my son when he went into cub scouts.

 

I simply cannot believe that the flag on the left shoulder is not a patch on this shirt. I don't even think it's real thread...

 

I'm so glad that I'm getting my old shirts from my mother when she comes to visit soon. The older shirts, in my opinion, are so much better quality.

 

I'm fine with seeking outside companies for products (most of our tennis shoes come from outside the US), but I think the above poster is right. Create a standard design for the shirts (long and short sleeve, tan, blue, and whatever color the Venture crews use) and let companies license it and provide it to us. Might be a bit more expensive at the start, but you get 3 or 4 companies competing for our business and prices would stabilize quickly.

 

Just give us good quality for what we pay for the uniforms. I'm happy to pay $30 for a shirt, but I expect that shirt to last.

 

And for the love of God, please put the normal flag patch back on the shoulder.

[jrush]

Well, it's glued-together thread.

 

You can remove the flag with a steam iron and sew on a flag, but just so you know, the US flag patches in the scout shop are made in China, too.

 

I salvaged a flag off an old uniform and sewed it on...just to have at least one thing on my shirt that was made in America.

[liquidzoo]

You can remove the flag with a steam iron and sew on a flag, but just so you know, the US flag patches in the scout shop are made in China, too.

 

I'm not concerned about where it's made, I just want it to be a real patch. Don't get me wrong, I love my country; but I also understand global economics. Cheaper products at the source means more profit at the sale. Don't care where they're made, just make them well. Have pride in the quality of your work, not just the quantity.

 

Thanks for the tip about getting it off, though.