Carter’s, Inc. (Carter’s) operates as a branded marketer of young children’s apparel in North America.
The company owns two of the most highly recognized and trusted brand names in the children’s apparel market, Carter’s and OshKosh B’gosh, or OshKosh. The company also owns Skip Hop, a leading young children’s lifestyle brand; Little Planet, a brand focused on organic fabrics and sustainable materials; and exclusive Carter’s brands developed for Amazon, Target, and Walmart.
The company's Carte...
Carter’s, Inc. (Carter’s) operates as a branded marketer of young children’s apparel in North America.
The company owns two of the most highly recognized and trusted brand names in the children’s apparel market, Carter’s and OshKosh B’gosh, or OshKosh. The company also owns Skip Hop, a leading young children’s lifestyle brand; Little Planet, a brand focused on organic fabrics and sustainable materials; and exclusive Carter’s brands developed for Amazon, Target, and Walmart.
The company's Carter’s brand is recognized and trusted by consumers for high-quality apparel and accessories for children in sizes newborn to 14.
OshKosh is a well-known brand, trusted by consumers for high-quality apparel and accessories for children in sizes newborn to 14, with a focus on playclothes for toddlers and young children. The company acquired OshKosh in 2005.
The Skip Hop brand rethinks, reenergizes, and reimagines durable necessities to create higher value, superior quality, and award-winning products for parents, babies, and toddlers. The company acquired Skip Hop in 2017.
Launched in 2021, the Little Planet brand focuses on sustainable clothing through the sourcing of mostly organic cotton, as certified under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), a global textile processing standard for organic fibers. This brand includes a wide assortment of baby and toddler apparel, accessories, and sleepwear.
Additionally, Child of Mine, an exclusive Carter’s brand, is sold at Walmart, Just One You, an exclusive Carter’s brand, is sold at Target, and Simple Joys, an exclusive Carter’s brand, is available on Amazon.
The company's multichannel global business model, which includes retail stores, eCommerce, and wholesale distribution channels, as well as omni-channel capabilities in the United States and Canada, enables the company to reach a broad range of consumers around the world. At the end of fiscal 2024, the company's channels included 1,057 company-owned retail stores in North America, eCommerce websites, approximately 19,500 wholesale locations in North America, as well as its international wholesale accounts and licensees who operate in over 1,100 locations outside of North America in over 90 countries.
Segments
The company operates through three segments: U.S. Retail, U.S. Wholesale, and International.
The company's U.S. Retail segment consists of revenue primarily from sales of products in the United States through its retail stores and eCommerce websites.
The company’s U.S. Wholesale segment consists of revenue primarily from sales in the United States of products to its wholesale customers.
The International segment consists of revenue primarily from sales of products outside the United States, largely through its retail stores and eCommerce websites in Canada and Mexico, as well as sales to its international wholesale customers and licensees.
Strategy
The company has extensive experience in the young children’s apparel and accessories market and focuses on delivering products that satisfy its consumers’ needs. The company's growth agenda is centered on three fundamental areas: elevate the style and value of its product offerings; improve its marketing capabilities and effectiveness; and leverage its unparalleled multi-channel market presence to extend the reach of its brands.
Brands
Carter’s & OshKosh B’gosh
The company's Carter’s and OshKosh product offerings include apparel and accessories for babies (sizes newborn to 24 months), toddlers (sizes 2T to 5T), and kids (sizes 4-14).
For its Carter’s brands, the company's focus is on essential and fashion apparel products for babies and young children, including bodysuits, layette essentials, sleep and play, pants, tops and t-shirts, multi-piece sets, dresses, and sleepwear. The company attributes its leading market position to its strong value proposition, brand strength, distinctive design, commitment to quality, and broad distribution through its company-owned retail stores, websites, and mobile app, as well as its wholesale distribution channel that includes successful and long-standing relationships with leading global and national retailers. The company's marketing programs are targeted toward first-time parents, experienced parents, and gift-givers. Its core baby product line provides families with essential products and accessories, including value-focused multi-piece sets. The company also has three exclusive Carter’s brands: its Child of Mine brand, which is sold at Walmart; the company's Just One You brand, which is sold at Target; and the company's Simple Joys brand, which is available on Amazon.
Carter’s is the leading brand in the zero to 10-year-old market in the United States, with particular strength in the zero to two-year-old segment. As of December 2024, the company's multichannel business model enabled its Carter’s brands to maintain a leading market share of approximately 10% in the zero to 10-year-old market. Its Carter’s brands maintained the leading market position with approximately 21% in the zero to two-year-old baby market and maintained its leading market position with approximately 11% in the three to four-year-old toddler market. The company's Carter’s brands also have an approximately 3% market share in the five to ten-year-old kid market.
The focus of the OshKosh brand is high-quality playclothes, including denim jeans, overalls, core bottoms, knit tops, t-shirts, and layering pieces for everyday use, primarily targeted at toddlers and young children. The company believes its OshKosh brand has significant brand name recognition, which consumers associate with high-quality, durable, and authentic playclothes for young children. As of December 2024, the company's OshKosh brand’s market share was less than 1% of the zero to 10-year-old apparel market in the United States.
For both its Carter’s and OshKosh brands, the company employs cross-functional teams to develop its product assortments. Team members from merchandising, art, design, sourcing, product development, and planning follow a disciplined development process.
The company is focused on strengthening its brands with consumers by differentiating its products through fabric softness, on-trend styling, updated packaging and presentation strategies, and consumer-facing marketing. The company also places importance on differentiating its brand experience through in-store fixturing, branding, signage, photography, and advertising across all of its global channels of distribution.
Licensed Products
The company licenses its Carter’s, OshKosh, Child of Mine, Just One You, Simple Joys, and Little Planet brands to various licensed partners in order to expand its product offerings into additional product categories, (such as footwear, outerwear, accessories, including hair accessories and jewelry), toys, home decor, cribs and baby furniture, and bedding. These licensed partners develop and sell the company's branded products through multiple sales channels, while leveraging its brand strength, customer relationships, and designs. Licensed products provide the company's customers with a range of lifestyle products that complement and expand upon its baby and young children’s apparel offerings. The company's license agreements require strict adherence to its quality and compliance standards and provide for a multi-step product approval process. The company works in conjunction with its licensing partners in the development of its branded products to ensure consistency across product offerings with its brand vision of high-quality products at market-leading value.
The company also partners with other brand owners to further expand its retail apparel product offerings, including a range of licensed sports and character t-shirts, bodysuits, and sleepwear.
Skip Hop
Under the company’s Skip Hop brand, the company designs, sources, and markets products that are sold primarily to expectant parents and families with young children. The company’s Skip Hop brand is best known for diaper bags, kid’s bags, home gear, and products for playtime, mealtime, bath time, and travel, combining innovative functionality with attractive design. Skip Hop was the #1 brand in diaper bags in 2024.
Skip Hop is a global lifestyle brand. Skip Hop’s core philosophy and positioning revolve around its brand promise — ‘Must-Haves * Made Better’. This reflects the brand’s intention of creating innovative, smartly designed, and highly functional essentials for parents, babies, and toddlers. The Skip Hop team includes both in-house design and creative teams, each of which is dedicated to meeting that goal. The company has made investments in in-store fixturing, branding, and signage, along with digital advertising, to further strengthen the position of the Skip Hop brand. Skip Hop branded products are sold through the company's retail stores, its eCommerce site, and in the wholesale channel.
Little Planet
The company's Little Planet brand launched in 2021 and is a primarily organic and sustainable apparel brand created to serve a growing consumer need for beautiful heirloom-quality baby and toddler products developed using sustainable materials. The assortment of products includes sleepwear, swimwear, outerwear, bedding, accessories, and toys. Little Planet products are sold through the company's retail stores, its eCommerce site, and in the wholesale channel.
Sales Channels
The company sells its Carter’s, OshKosh, Skip Hop, and Little Planet branded products through multiple channels, both in the United States and globally.
U.S. Retail
The company's U.S. Retail segment includes sales of its products through its U.S. retail stores and eCommerce sites, including through its omni-channel capabilities to allow its customers to experience its brands as a seamless shopping experience in the channel of their choice.
The company's U.S. retail stores are generally located in high-traffic open-air shopping centers and malls in or near major cities, or in outlet centers that are near densely populated areas. The company’s brand strength, product assortment, shopping experience, and high-quality service have made its retail stores a destination for consumers seeking children’s apparel and accessories.
Each of the company's stores carries an assortment of Carter’s, OshKosh, and/or Skip Hop branded products, as well as other products, including Little Planet branded products, depending on the store and location. As of the end of fiscal 2024, the company's stores averaged approximately 5,100 square feet per location.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, the company opened its first-ever flagship store in Atlanta, Georgia, which includes brand-centric presentations, in-store shops for baby, toddler, and kids, as well as Little Planet, modern digital displays, a gifting station, and community engagement events.
The company regularly assesses potential new retail store locations and closures of existing stores based on demographic factors, retail adjacencies, competitive factors, population density, growth projections, and performance of existing stores as part of a rigorous real estate portfolio optimization process.
The company also sells its products through its U.S. eCommerce websites at www.carters.com, www.oshkosh.com, www.skiphop.com, www.shoplittleplanet.com, and through its mobile app.
The company focuses on the customer experience through store and eCommerce website design, visual aesthetics, clear product presentation, and exceptional customer service. Its eCommerce websites also feature product recommendations and online-only offerings.
The company strives to create a seamless omni-channel experience between its retail stores and its eCommerce websites. Customers can choose to have eCommerce purchases shipped directly to them,( same-day shipping available in select markets), to pick up the purchases in a store through (buy-online, pick-up in-store), or through its curbside pick-up services.eCommerce purchases, including those from the company's eCommerce websites and mobile app, may be shipped from one of its distribution facilities or from a retail store through (buy-online, deliver-from-store). Store purchases are primarily fulfilled from each store’s inventory, but the company's in-store buy-online services offer its broadest assortment to be shipped to a customer from one of its distribution facilities or from another retail store.The company utilizes radio frequency identification, or (RFID), technology in its stores. This technology helps the company improve its management of inventory and allows it to fulfill omni-channel orders more effectively.
U.S. Wholesale
The company's U.S. Wholesale segment includes sales of its products to its U.S. wholesale customers.
The company's Carter’s brand wholesale customers in the United States include major retailers, such as, in alphabetical order, Costco, JCPenney, Kohl’s, Macy’s, and Sam’s Club. Additionally, its Child of Mine exclusive brand is sold at Walmart, its Just One You exclusive brand is sold at Target, and its Simple Joys exclusive brand is available on Amazon.
The company's OshKosh brand wholesale customers in the United States include major retailers, such as Amazon and Target.
The company's Skip Hop brand wholesale customers in the United States include major retailers, such as Amazon, Target, and Walmart.
The company's Little Planet brand wholesale customers in the United States include major retailers, such as Amazon and Target.
The company collaborates with its wholesale customers to provide a consistent and high level of service, and to drive growth through eCommerce, replenishment, product mix, and brand presentation initiatives. The company also holds frequent meetings with the senior management of key accounts to align on strategic growth plans.
The company's two largest wholesale customers accounted for 10.9% and 10.1%, respectively, of consolidated net sales in fiscal 2024.
International
The company's International segment includes sales of its products through its retail stores and eCommerce sites in Canada and Mexico. As of the end of fiscal 2024, in Canada, the company operated retail stores and an eCommerce site at www.cartersoshkosh.ca, and in Mexico, the company operated retail stores and an eCommerce site at www.carters.com.mx.
The company's International segment includes sales of its products to wholesale accounts outside of the United States, including both domestic retailers with international operations and international retailers. In addition, the company licenses its Carter’s and OshKosh brands to international customers that sell its products through branded retail and online stores, as well as to wholesale customers within their licensed territories. The company's International segment includes sales of its products to these licensees and royalty income based on sales made by certain licensees. As of the end of fiscal 2024, the company's International channel included wholesale accounts in various locations in North America and wholesale accounts and licensees who operated in various locations outside of North America. As of the end of fiscal 2024, the company had approximately 40 international licensees who operated in over 90 countries.
Marketing Strategy
For all its brands, the company’s marketing is largely focused on driving brand preference and engagement with first-time and experienced parents, as well as gift-givers. The company's marketing investments are targeted at acquiring new customers, developing stronger relationships with its existing customers, and extending its customers’ tenure with its brands. Included among the company's marketing investments are its newly developed marketing personalization capabilities, a rebranded and relaunched customer loyalty program, enhanced digital and social media programs, and strengthened consumer-facing technologies such as its mobile app.
The company uses its customer loyalty program in the United States to drive customer traffic, sales, and brand loyalty. In the second quarter of fiscal 2024, the company rebranded and relaunched its loyalty program as Carter’s Rewards, with the goals of further deepening customer loyalty, increasing the frequency of visits, and growing customer lifetime value. This program is integrated across the company's U.S. retail stores and online businesses. During fiscal 2024, the company's U.S. retail sales were predominantly made to members of Carter’s Rewards.
Complementing the company’s Carter’s Rewards loyalty program is its Carter’s private label credit card, which provides added benefits for the company’s Carter’s Rewards customers.
Global Sourcing Network
The company sources all of its apparel and other products from a global network of third-party suppliers, primarily located in Asia. The company sources the remainder of its products primarily through North America, Africa, and Central America. During fiscal 2024, approximately 75% of the company's product was sourced from Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and India; and approximately 60% of the fabric used in the manufacture of its products was sourced from China, with the remainder sourced primarily from India, Vietnam, Thailand, and Bangladesh. The company does not own any raw materials or manufacturing facilities.
The company's sourcing operations are based in Hong Kong to facilitate better service and manage the volume of manufacturing in Asia. Its Hong Kong office acts as an agent for substantially all of its sourcing in Asia and monitors production at manufacturers’ facilities to ensure quality control, compliance with its manufacturing specifications and social responsibility standards, as well as timely delivery of finished apparel to its distribution facilities. The company also has sourcing offices in Cambodia, Vietnam, China, and Bangladesh to help support these efforts.
Global Distribution Network
The majority of all finished goods manufactured for the company is shipped to its distribution facilities or to designated third-party facilities for final inspection, allocation, and reshipment to customers. The goods are delivered to the company and to its customers by independent shippers. The company chooses the form of shipment based on needs, costs, and timing considerations.
In the United States, the company operates three distribution centers in Georgia: an approximately 1.1 million square-foot multichannel facility in Braselton, a 0.5 million square-foot facility in Stockbridge, and a 0.2 million square-foot single-channel facility in Jonesboro. The company outsources certain distribution activities to third-party logistics providers located in California and leverages additional third-party providers in Georgia, as needed, primarily for seasonal storage.
The company's distribution center activities include receiving finished goods from its vendors, inspecting those products, and preparing and shipping them to its wholesale customers, retail stores, and eCommerce customers.
Internationally, the company operates directly or outsources its distribution activities to third-party logistics providers in Canada, China, Mexico, and Vietnam to support shipments to the United States, as well as its international wholesale accounts, international licensees, international eCommerce operations, and Canadian and Mexican retail store networks.
Competition
The company's primary competitors include Gap, Old Navy, and The Children’s Place; Cat & Jack (private label sold exclusively in Target) and Garanimals (sold exclusively in Walmart); and Disney, Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour (national brands).
Seasonality
The company experiences seasonal fluctuations in its sales and profitability due to the timing of certain holidays and key retail shopping periods, which generally have resulted in lower sales and gross profit in the first half of its fiscal year compared to the second half of the year (year ended December 2024).
Governmental Regulation
The company is subject to laws, regulations and standards set by various governmental authorities and standard setting bodies around the world, including in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, including: those imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE); the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and similar world-wide anti-bribery laws; the tax laws of the United States and other countries; health care, employment and labor laws; product and consumer safety laws, including those imposed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; data privacy laws, including the European Union General Data Protection Act (GDPA), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA); trade, transportation and logistics related laws, including tariffs, quotas, embargoes, and orders issued by Customs and Border Protection and similar agencies in other countries; and applicable environmental laws. The majority of the company’s products are imported into the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
History
Carter’s, Inc. was founded in 1865. The company was incorporated in 2003.
The Analyst Price Target shows the analysts’ low, high, and average target at a glance.
