Oct 31, 2011

Headwear Leader Dorfman Pacific Celebrates 90 Years in Business and the Community

Since its founding in 1921 in Oakland, Ca. Dorfman Pacific has thrived through fickle fashion changes and advances in production, communication and distribution technologies to become not only the largest full-line in-stock headwear company in the world, but the premier headwear company in the U.S. and a model corporate citizen.

“With more than 30 brands ranging from long-standing favorite Scala™ to the newest in our line-up such as ETSIS™, Stetson® Cloth Hats and Caps, Cappelli Straworld™, Woolrich®, Biltmore and Jacaru,” says Douglas Highsmith, Dorfman’s President and CEO (see below for full list of brands), “plus a position as a leading supplier in the private label sector, we offer buyers in the U.S. and 46 countries around the globe a vast choice of fairly-priced quality, stylish products. We back these products with outstanding service, the latest, most advanced technology, a strong national advertising presence in both consumer and trade publications, and a consistent record of PR placements in print, broadcast and web media.”

Dorfman Pacific now operates out of a state-of-the-art, ultra-green high-tech 315,000 square foot distribution center in Stockton, Ca. From there it remains able to take rapid delivery of inventory—sourced by its world-traveling product development team—through the nearby port of Oakland, while at the same time its highly accurate cutting-edge computerized order fulfillment systems enable it to achieve one-day delivery in the U.S. and the fastest delivery in the industry to all of its 10,000+ accounts worldwide. The company serves its U.S. buyers—which range from the largest department store chains to single specialty retailers—through showrooms in 8 cities around the nation (a new, greatly expanded one in New York City, which also serves as a satellite office and a new Atlanta showroom) and by participating at over 150 trade shows annually, including WWD MAGIC, Accessories The Show, SURF EXPO and many more.

90 years ago, Dorfman Pacific was founded with a commitment to strong service, and this commitment has never diminished. “We have at the core of our company, the most experienced staff in the business,” says Highsmith. “Our average employee has been with us for 9 plus years, and the average salesperson for 12—this not only says something about who we are as a company, but it translates into better service for our customers.”

Meanwhile, the solidly grounded approach to business and civic life that keeps Dorfman Pacific employees with the company over the years and into decades of service is equally clear in other areas. “We are absolutely convinced that it’s our corporate responsibility to conserve resources and minimize our environmental impact, and we have taken real and effective action to achieve that.” Highsmith continues. “In the past few years Dorfman Pacific has reduced its electricity consumption by more than 50 %, and we now generate 85 % of what we still use from solar panels on our roof—that’s the equivalent of saving 1,000 barrels of oil a year. We use electric hand dryers that can dry 22 pairs of hands for the cost of a single paper towel, waterless urinals that together save over a quarter million gallons of water a year, non-polluting electric fork lifts and carts, and most recently, we are launching a program to subsidize commuting employees in the purchase of Nissan Leaf electric cars, which we will recharge free at our office headquarters. Each program is powered by the 1968 newly installed solar panels. ”

The company also demonstrates its commitment to the community in more traditional ways. Over the past 20 years the company and its employees have contributed more than $3 million to major charitable organizations including United Way, The Salvation Army and The American Red Cross. They support orphanages in Mexico, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Vietnam, and respond with special relief campaigns in the face of major natural disasters such as the Katrina hurricane, Haiti earthquake and the earthquake/tsunami in Japan. Dorfman Pacific is also extremely proud of the assistance that a range of scholarship funds provide to financially deprived high school and higher education students both here in the U.S. and overseas.

“At Dorfman Pacific we are committed to operating our company in a way that is not only profitable, but that leaves the world a better place,” concludes Highsmith. “For us, service to our customers and service to the community are inextricably linked. We’ve remained true to this commitment over our first 90 years, and the commercial result is plain to see in our leading position in the headwear industry. We look forward to building on our record in the years to come.”

The company marked the occasion with a celebration at its Stockton Headquarters in October. Facility tours and a reception with employees, various business contacts and community took place on October 20.