Clothes per kilo: the Argentine move to compete with Shein

An Argentine sports clothing chain launched an unprecedented sales format per kilo to face the drop in consumption and pressure from imports. In its stores, new clothing is sold at $20,000 per kilo, with between 7 and 10 items per purchase depending on the type of product. The model, without intermediaries and with national production, seeks to sustain industrial activity and jobs in an adverse context for the textile sector.

An Argentine textile SME found an unconventional way to survive in a context of falling consumption and strong competition from imported products. The sports clothing chain MOM Sports began selling clothing by the kilo as a strategy to sustain sales and compete on price with platforms like Shein.

The scheme is simple. The customer pays around $20,000 per kilo of sports clothing and can bring between 7 and 10 items of clothing, depending on the type of product. It is new, national and flawless clothing, which is sold directly from the factory, without intermediaries.

The company, founded by textile industrialist Gabriel Corigliano, was born in 2021 and experienced strong expansion with locations in shopping malls and a presence abroad. With the change in the economic scenario, it reduced its structure and reorganized its commercial network to focus on direct sales and high-traffic points.

Today MOM Sports operates with a network of approximately 10 to 11 locations in Argentina, with a presence in the Tortugas Open Mall, San Martín, San Justo, Villa Ballester, Morón, José C. Paz, Lomas de Zamora, Tandil, Calamuchita in Córdoba and also in Asunción, Paraguay.

The stores operate like a traditional outlet, but with a cash scale: the customer chooses the clothes, tries them on and then pays by weight. The model also attracts small entrepreneurs who buy to resell.

The firm maintains that this format allows it to sustain production, liquidate stock and maintain jobs in an adverse scenario for the local textile industry.