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TEXTILES page 64

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Automatic, Keyless Remote Entry,
Auto On/Off Headlamps, Premium 7
Speaker Sound System, Driver Seat
Power Lumbar Support, Full Power,
Dual Airbags, Four Wheel Disc
Brakes & Much More.

!LS400

$6

Trac, Control, CD Player,
Power Moonroof, Security System,
Dual Airbags, ABS Brakes,
Full Power, Memory Seats, Leather,
Keyless Remote Entry
& MUCH MORE!

, ..... ••

*24 & 36 Mo. closed end lease based on approved credit. 24,000 maximum miles on LS, 36,000 on ES w/15 per mile over. $450 acq. fee,
1st mo. pymt., tax, plate & title due at inception. $500 refundable sec. deposit on LS, $3750 on ES. Lessee resp. for excess wear & tear.
Purchase option at lease end $36,293.56 on LS, $19,148.85 on ES. Total obligation equals mo. pymt. x term. •Plus tax, title, plates. Prior
sales and leases excluded.

OF umnsirica
80,0-539-8748

THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF PERFECTION
Exit 104 Off 1-96 • 5709 So Pennsylvania, Lansing

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Audeman Piguet
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Experts in repair & restorations of all repeaters,
multiple chronographs & antique time pieces.
1 Yr. Warranty — Estimates on request.

MR is not an Authorized Repair Facility for any of the companies

listed above except Universal Geneve and Wittnauer._ k 12 max RD.

(810) 358-2211

28411 NORTHWESTERN

HWY.
AT BECK RD. SUITE 250
SOUTHFIELD, MI

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European style workmanshop
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Shirict"t

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one company in the industry goes
out of business or switches from=
mass production to small-volume
lines of higher-quality goods, a
domino effect begins.
Though the size of an order
does not make a difference to pro-
ducers like Pearl Anderson, which
can sell a reduced number of fin-
ished goods at a higher price, sub-
contractors who dye, finish and
sew rely on mass-quantity orders.
And conversely, when Chemitex,
a large printing company, went
bankrupt last year, many manu-
facturers had to go scrambling to
find another company to do the
job.
"How many knocks can the in-
dustry take?" asked Mr. Pearl.
According to changes in the
government's policy regarding
grants and bailouts, ifs clear that
the government is willing to let
the textile industry be knocked
into self-sufficiency, even if that
means death for scores of compa-
nies.
In the last five years, the gov-
ernment has ceased to grant ex-
porters the 6 percent turnover
subsidies that once allowed com-
panies to get by even if they did
not earn a profit.
The government also stopped
offering companies $20,000
grants to design a line of clothing,
and no longer offers grants to tex-
tile start-ups. Cash incentives for
machinery upgrades, however,
are still provided.
The numbers are tricky. Last
year alone more than 55 of Israel's
3,000 textile companies closed
down. Yet over the four previous
years, investments in the textile cl\
industry rose by 64 percent.
The downside is the number of
workers employed by the indus-
try, which today totals 60,000,
about the same as 20 years ago,
despite the general workforce's
sharp growth over that period by
some 20 percent. Moreover, as im-
port tariffs continued to drop, tex-
tile imports last year jumped an
annual 11 percent to $1.22 billion
Against this backdrop, even the
generally content Mr. Levy agrees
that changes in the industry are
inevitable: "The industry is re-
shaping. In the long term, com-
panies that work on the niche
basis, that have a special (com-
petitive edge) in design and mar-
keting, will survive. Factories that
are based on cheap labor and sim-
ple products will not."
The government has no choice
but to continue on its current
course, he said. Impeding indus-
trial liberalization would make
the government "look like Bol-
sheviks."
But Tzach Faran, head econ-
omist of the Manufacturers As-
sociation's textile and fashion
division, is afraid the government
may be going too far.
Tariffs on imports are set to
drop to 12 percent on finished gar-
ments and 8 percent on raw ma-
terials by the year 2000. El

in business 38 years.

