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Supply chain and logistics · 12 min

Where your stuff comes from

Your hoodie was a cotton plant, then yarn, then fabric, then a hoodie on a ship. Before it reached the store, it changed hands again and again. Here's the trip, and the people who plan it.

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Ticket 01 · The guess

How much did the store pay?

Say a clothing store sells $100example (example number: Our example: a round amount of sales at a clothing store.) of hoodies and T-shirts. How much of that went to pay for the clothes themselves?

$75
$0$100
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Sources and every number (2)

Sources

  • Annual Retail Trade Survey: 2022 (benchmarked, released August 31, 2026): sales, gross margin, gross margin as a percentage of sales, and total operating expenses of US retail firms by kind of business · U.S. Census Bureau, 2022
  • Cotton Sector at a Glance (updated January 8, 2025) · USDA Economic Research Service, 2025

Every number

  • $100example (example number: Our example: a round amount of sales at a clothing store.) · Our example: a round amount of sales at a clothing store.
  • 50.6%census.gov ·2022 · Gross margin as a percentage of sales, US clothing stores (the survey's 'Clothing stores' row), 2022 (the survey's gmper table, its revised 2022 column). An average over everything clothing stores sold.
  • $49.40census.gov ·2022 · Worked out: $100 minus the 50.6% gross margin of US clothing stores, 2022.
  • 35%usda.gov ·2025 · The US share of the world's cotton exports "in recent years" (approximately), by USDA ERS; the US is the world's leading cotton exporter.
  • 40 daysexample (example number: Our example: days for the factory to make the order in a quiet month.) · Our example: days for the factory to make the order in a quiet month.
  • 5 daysexample (example number: Our example: days to truck the boxes to the port and load the ship.) · Our example: days to truck the boxes to the port and load the ship.
  • 18 daysexample (example number: Our example: days for the ship to cross the ocean.) · Our example: days for the ship to cross the ocean.
  • 4 daysexample (example number: Our example: days waiting at the US port and clearing customs.) · Our example: days waiting at the US port and clearing customs.
  • 3 daysexample (example number: Our example: days to truck the container to the warehouse.) · Our example: days to truck the container to the warehouse.
  • 2 daysexample (example number: Our example: days from the warehouse to the stores.) · Our example: days from the warehouse to the stores.
  • 72 daysexample (example number: Our example: worked out: 40 days + 5 days + 18 days + 4 days + 3 days + 2 days.) · Our example: worked out: 40 days + 5 days + 18 days + 4 days + 3 days + 2 days.
  • 10 weeksexample (example number: Worked out from our example: 72 days is a little over this many weeks.) · Worked out from our example: 72 days is a little over this many weeks.
  • 300example (example number: Our example purchase order: small hoodies.) · Our example purchase order: small hoodies.
  • 600example (example number: Our example purchase order: medium hoodies.) · Our example purchase order: medium hoodies.
  • 600example (example number: Our example purchase order: large hoodies.) · Our example purchase order: large hoodies.
  • 300example (example number: Our example purchase order: extra-large hoodies.) · Our example purchase order: extra-large hoodies.
  • 1,800example (example number: Our example purchase order: worked out: 300 + 600 + 600 + 300.) · Our example purchase order: worked out: 300 + 600 + 600 + 300.
  • $18example (example number: Our example purchase order: the factory's price for each hoodie.) · Our example purchase order: the factory's price for each hoodie.
  • $32,400example (example number: Our example purchase order, worked out: 1,800 hoodies × $18.) · Our example purchase order, worked out: 1,800 hoodies × $18.
  • 30 daysexample (example number: Our example: the store pays this many days after the order ships.) · Our example: the store pays this many days after the order ships.
  • 7 daysexample (example number: Our example: days the stores want to set the hoodies out before the sale.) · Our example: days the stores want to set the hoodies out before the sale.
  • 2 daysexample (example number: Our example: days from the warehouse to the stores.) · Our example: days from the warehouse to the stores.
  • 3 daysexample (example number: Our example: days to truck the container to the warehouse.) · Our example: days to truck the container to the warehouse.
  • 4 daysexample (example number: Our example: days waiting at the port and clearing customs.) · Our example: days waiting at the port and clearing customs.
  • 18 daysexample (example number: Our example: days crossing the ocean.) · Our example: days crossing the ocean.
  • 5 daysexample (example number: Our example: days to truck to the port and load.) · Our example: days to truck to the port and load.
  • 45 daysexample (example number: Our example: days for the factory to make the order in its busy season.) · Our example: days for the factory to make the order in its busy season.
  • 84 daysexample (example number: Our example: worked out: 7 days + 2 days + 3 days + 4 days + 18 days + 5 days + 45 days.) · Our example: worked out: 7 days + 2 days + 3 days + 4 days + 18 days + 5 days + 45 days.
  • 12 weeksexample (example number: Worked out from our example: 84 days ÷ seven days in a week.) · Worked out from our example: 84 days ÷ seven days in a week.
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