Analysis on the Fur Industry
Analysis on the Fur Industry
The fur Industry is an area of commerce that encompasses farming or trapping certain furbearing animals, processing their skins for sale to manufacturer’s of fur garments and marketing finished garments to retail outlets. The term fur refers to any animal skin or part that has hair, fleece, or fur fibers attached, either in a raw or processed state. Skins of furbearing animals are also called peltries or pelts.
From earliest times, fur has been a prized commodity. Exploration in the New World made furs more readily available, and as early as 1530 regular shipments of beaver pelts were sent to Europe from the colonies. The beaver, trapped by Native Americans, was a main source of barter at trading posts that later grew into such cities as Chicago; St. Louis, Missouri; Saint Paul, Minnesota; Spokane, Washington; and Detroit.
II FUR FARMING
Fur farming, or raising animals in captivity under controlled conditions, started in Canada in 1887 on Prince Edward Island. Animals with unique characteristics of size, color, or texture can pass those characteristics on to their offspring through controlled breeding. Fur farmers customarily crossbreed animals (mate different varieties from the same species) and inbreed animals (mate close relatives) to produce furs with desirable characteristics. The silver fox, developed from the red fox, was the first fur so produced. Today, so-called mutation minks ranging from white to near black and from bluish to lavender and rosy-tan colors, each with exotic trade names, are raised on thousands of fur farms, as are chinchilla, nutria, and fox. Fur-farmed animals provide a steady supply of fine-quality, well-cared-for peltries.
III MARKETING CHANNELS FOR FURS
North American fur trappers and farmers have come under increasing pressure from foreign competition. By the late 1980s, the Scandinavian countries produced 45 percent of the world supply of peltries; the USSR supplied 31 percent, the U.S. 10 percent, and Canada only 3 percent. Retail sales of furs in the U.S. grew from less than $400 million in the early 1970s to $1.5 billion by the mid-1980s, then stagnated at between $1.8 billion and $2 billion annually. The fur industry has also been hurt by protests from animal rights activists and the increasing popularity of artificial fur.
Trappers send peltries to local collecting stations or to dealers who send them on to receiving houses, where they are prepared for auction. Prime furs, those caught...