Sustainable Brand Benchmark - Hanesbrands

HanesBrands Inc., known as HBI on the New York Stock Exchange, is a global company with a rich history and a vast portfolio of brands that have become household names. Founded in 1901, HanesBrands has grown into a multinational clothing company headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. The company employs approximately 65,300 people internationally and operates in 32 countries.

HanesBrands is renowned for its everyday apparel that is celebrated for comfort, quality, and value. The company's iconic brands include Hanes, the leading basic apparel brand in the United States; Champion, an innovator at the intersection of lifestyle and athletic apparel; and Bonds, which is setting new standards for design and sustainability.

The company's business model is unique in the apparel industry because it owns the majority of its manufacturing facilities, producing about 80 percent of the apparel it sells. This ownership allows HanesBrands to maintain a competitive advantage in terms of cost, scale, flexibility, and compliance with best-in-class management practices. The company operates a balanced supply chain across hemispheres, including fabric production, cut parts, and sewing.

HanesBrands products are sold in a variety of retail settings, including mass-merchandise, mid-tier, department stores, college bookstores, dollar stores, food and drug, and club stores, as well as directly to consumers through the Internet and nearly 1,000 company-owned retail stores worldwide.

In terms of corporate social responsibility, HanesBrands has a strong reputation for ethical business practices and workplace quality. It is the only apparel producer to ever be honored for its workplace practices in Central America and the Caribbean by the Great Place to Work Institute. Additionally, the company has been named Forbes Best Large Employer and is an 11-time honoree of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star.

HanesBrands has also set ambitious 2030 goals to improve the lives of people, protect the planet, and produce sustainable products. The company's Full Potential plan is a strategy to help HanesBrands become the most admired, consumer-centric everyday apparel company in the world. This plan focuses on four key pillars: growing the global Champion brand, reigniting innerwear growth, driving consumer-centricity, and focusing the portfolio.

In recent years, HanesBrands has expanded its brand portfolio through acquisitions, including the purchase of Maidenform for $575 million in 2013, the Australian-based clothing and underwear company Pacific Brands in 2016, and the acquisition of Alternative Apparel for $60 million in 2017.

With a net sales figure of $6.7 billion in 2020, HanesBrands continues to be a dominant player in the apparel industry, leveraging its world-class supply chain and focusing on strategic initiatives to unlock its full potential and deliver long-term growth that benefits all stakeholders.