AmericasMart aims to help boutiques grapple with tariffs
Like frugal families tightening their belts, boutiques and retailers constantly hunt for discounts when refreshing their wares.
That search means savvy wholesale shoppers embark on a seasonal pilgrimage to downtown Atlanta each fall.
Thousands gathered Tuesday to kick off the four-day Atlanta Apparel market at AmericasMart, one of the country’s largest wholesale trade shows for clothes and accessories. It represents a consistent opportunity for small businesses to restock their shelves with the latest trends, which the market’s operators say provides stability even during uncertain economic times.
“People are being really, really purposeful about what they’re buying and how they’re thinking about their merchandising,” said Andrea Drasites, a Blackstone executive who oversees real estate asset management, including AmericasMart. “The market has become even more important.”
Like most industries, the retail sector has been on pins and needles this year as President Donald Trump’s tariffs ripple through global trade markets. In an effort to remake international trade, Trump has threatened or raised tariffs on nearly all major American trading partners, prompting many to issue their own retaliatory tariffs.
Companies that bring foreign goods into the U.S. pay the tariff, effectively an import tax, and must either absorb the taxes or pass them on to American businesses and consumers.
Textiles and clothing, which are often woven and produced at scale overseas, have faced disproportionate price shocks because of tariff changes, according to an August analysis by the Budget Lab at Yale University. Consumers are facing 39% higher shoe prices and 37% higher apparel prices, the report found.
The more than 850 brands on offer this week across hundreds of booths in AmericasMart are not insulated from those shifting prices. At wholesale prices when profit margins are thin, Drasites said cost sensitivity is even higher.
“So many of our products and so many of our sellers are importing or manufacturing abroad,” she said. “ … It’s really hard to put a fine point on when this will sort of all shake out.”
AmericasMart has noted a decline in sales activity during 2025, especially for larger items like furniture. Spanning more than 7 million square feet, AmericasMart’s three buildings within the Peachtree Center district offer about triple the floor space of the Mall of Georgia.
Because of its scale and steady schedule of trade shows, Drasites said AmericasMart remains central to the business models of many specialty stores and boutiques. It hosts 16 multiday showcases each year in addition to third-party conventions such as Dragon Con.
The annual fall apparel market serves to offer a sneak peek at spring and summer fashion trends. It also provides a last-minute chance to snag deals for shops that have sold out popular merchandise lines during fall holiday breaks — or have run out of goods they’ve stockpiled to avoid tariff impacts.
“They just had a very busy fall season and they have a lot of open (inventory space) to buy,” said Caron Stover, senior vice president of apparel leasing at Andmore, the Blackstone subsidiary that operates AmericasMart. “You need the four days because there is so much to see.”
She added that the efficiency of having so many retail peers in one place is unmatched across the country.
AmericasMart’s consistency is also something Atlanta has relied on for decades.
Dating back to the 1960s, the markets have brought a steady stream of activity to downtown. AmericasMart now attracts more than 200,000 annual visitors, and it generates more than $30 million in annual local tax revenues for the city.
Market executives also boast its annual economic impact is north of $640 million, which is more than about three estimated Super Bowls — although it’s a figure often debated among economists and politicians.
“We talk a lot about the excitement of specific sports events or other (one-off) events,” Drasites said. “But what we have here is 16 times a year we’re bringing events together that people have to come to and they have to come stay in Atlanta.”
That predictability is baked into Atlanta’s budget and event schedule, but it also provides some stability for stores and shoppers during periods of economic strife. Drasites said the markets are designed to offer enough value — and access to the future of fashion — for boutiques to keep returning to Atlanta.
“We want for people to say, ‘I have to come back in January because I got my spring-summer perspective (on apparel trends in October),” she said. “And I have to be there in January to see what’s next for the fall.”
About the Author
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
