New import business comes to Charleston

An apparel company known for its pajamas is setting up importing operations in the Lowcountry.

American Marketing Enterprises Inc. will use Regal Logistics’ 200,000-square-foot Charleston warehouse to import and ship children’s sleepwear to Walmart distribution centers starting in July, Regal announced Tuesday.

The deal will see more than 80 containers move through the S.C. State Ports Authority’s Wando Welch and North Charleston terminals in the first month, with several hundred more containers expected throughout the 2010 retail season.

Regal’s distribution center is located at 1301-B Charleston Regional Parkway.

Regal will hire between 10 and 20 local workers to support American Marketing Enterprises and other import-export business at its Charleston facility, the company said.

This marks the first time American Marketing Enterprises will use a U.S. Southeast port, according to Garry Neeves, Regal Logistics’ vice president.

“Walmart, AME and Regal Logistics recognize the supply chain efficiencies that are gained by using the most direct distribution route, considering volume, time, cost and ultimate destination,” Neeves said in a statement. “In this case, it’s the Port of Charleston.”

Neeves said that with increasing transportation costs and the 2014 Panama Canal expansion, operating out Charleston was the most “cost-effective way to reach 60 million consumers stretching from New York to Florida”

The apparel company currently imports millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise through the Pacific Northwest.

American Marketing Enterprises will use all Regal Logistics services for the receiving, handling and distribution of its products, including special technologies necessary for Walmart-compliant shipments, Regal said.

American Marketing Enterprises is a U.S.-based private-label sleepwear firm headquartered in New York. It holds licenses for an array of children’s entertainment characters including Spiderman, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Cars, Dora the Explorer, Barbie and Disney Princesses.