Carter's, Inc. is a major American designer and marketer of children's apparel. It was founded in 1865 by William Carter. Carter's sells its products through its own Carter's and OshKosh B'gosh retail stores, its website, and in other retail outlets such as

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s. , it was reported that Carter's accounted for around one-quarter of all sales both for the children's

sleepwear Nightwear – also called sleepwear, or nightclothes – is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping. The style of nightwear worn may vary with the seasons, with warmer styles being worn in colder conditions and vice versa. Some style ...

market, and for clothes for the newborn to two-year-old age group.

History

William Carter was the founder of William Carter Company in 1865 in Needham, Massachusetts. William Carter (1830–1918) was born in

Alfreton, Derbyshire Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...

, England. He arrived in America on January 28, 1857. He married Martha Lee (1842-1873). They had four children: William Henry Carter (1864–1955), who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1915-1919) prior to being elected president of the William Carter Company in 1918; Mary Elizabeth Carter (1865-1961); John J. Carter (1867-1939); and Horace A. Carter (1869-1959). By the early 1960s, the William Carter Company manufactured at seven mills in Massachusetts and the South. The Carter family sold the business in 1990. In the early 2000s, Carter's reached an agreement with

Target Corporation Target Corporation ( doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a com ...

to create the "Just One You" spin-off clothing line, to be sold exclusively in Target stores. Carter's later created exclusive lines for retailers

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

and

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. All of the brands sell similar articles of clothing, such as bodysuits, pajamas, and dresses, but each has its own design team and pricing policies specific to the retailer. Carter's acquired competitor

OshKosh B'gosh OshKosh B'gosh is an American children's apparel company founded in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is a subsidiary of Carter's. The company was founded in 1895 as the Grove Manufacturing Company by Frank E. Grove, J. Howard Jenkins, and James Clark. Gr ...

for $312 million in 2005. In 2012, Carter's, Inc. announced that

Braselton, Georgia Braselton ( ) is a town in Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall, and Jackson counties in the U.S. state of Georgia, approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 7,511, and in 2018 the estimated population was 11,6 ...

would receive their 1-million-square-foot, $50 million distribution center that will support their e-commerce, retail, and wholesale businesses. The company hoped to create 1,000 jobs at the facility by 2015. In February 2017, Carter's, Inc. acquired Skip Hop Inc., an infant and child product company based in New York, for $140 million in cash and up to $10 million in future payments contingent on reaching certain financial goals in 2017. Fireman Capital Partners, a

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

firm, had previously acquired a majority equity stake in Skip Hop Inc. for $50 million in November 2013. In addition to selling its apparel through third-party retailers, Carter's operated 1,060 branded stores and outlets , with plans to open up to another 100 stores in "mid-tier"

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

s in the following years. A

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers: know about them, starting with who they are. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Mar ...

firm found that "Ninety percent of

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s ...

parents — and 80 percent of

baby boomer Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. ...

grandparents — have shopped at Carter’s in the past year."

Brands

Carter's, Inc. markets clothing and other children's products under several brand names. Other than its namesake Carter's brand,

, and Skip Hop, these labels are exclusive to specific retailers and include, : * Exclusive to

stores: ** Just One You ** Precious Firsts ** Genuine Kids * Exclusive to

: ** Child of Mine * Exclusive to

: ** Simple Joys The logo for each exclusive brand notes that it is "made by Carter's," with the exception of Genuine Kids, which carries the label "from OshKosh." Genuine Kids has been sold since 2003, before OshKosh was acquired by Carters, Inc.

Headquarters

In October 2012, the ''

Atlanta Business Chronicle The ''Atlanta Business Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper covering business news in Atlanta, Georgia, published by American City Business Journals. The paper has both a weekly print edition and an online edition. History The ''Atlanta Business ...

'' reported that Carter's Inc. was likely to lease in the

Phipps Tower Phipps Tower is a 20-story office tower in Buckhead, Atlanta. It is adjacent to the Phipps Plaza shopping center.Sams, Douglas.Carter's moving HQ to Phipps Tower" ''Atlanta Business Chronicle''. December 14, 2012. Updated on December 17, 2013. Retr ...

in Buckhead for its headquarters.Sams, Douglas.
Carter's HQ likely moving to Buckhead
" ''

''. October 12, 2012. Updated October 22, 2012. Retrieved on May 23, 2013. In December 2012, Carter's Inc. announced that it was moving its headquarters from

Midtown Atlanta Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown, is a high-density commercial and residential neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used by the city, residents, and local business ...

. The lease of of space is one of the largest headquarters leases to have occurred to date in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. The estimated value of the lease, except for concessions and escalation, was $70 million. The lease in Midtown was scheduled to be terminated on December 31, 2013.Sams, Douglas.
Carter's moving HQ to Phipps Tower
" ''

''. December 14, 2012. Updated on December 17, 2013. Retrieved on May 23, 2013. The company consolidated its out of state jobs into the new facility, with 200 additional jobs going to

Buckhead Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downto ...

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owns both the Proscenium and the Phipps Tower so Carter's terminated its lease early in one building and moved to the other. The company now has its headquarters in Suite 1800 at

, in

Buckhead, Atlanta Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downto ...

Response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Carter's is given a C grade by Yale University's Chief Executive Leadership Institute as a corporation that is "Reducing Current Operations" in Russia. Carter's has stopped all shipments of merchandise to Russia.

References

External links