Uniforms, Footwear, and Fit Packs: Apparel Logistics for the Back-to-School Rush
Back-to-school in Puerto Rico compresses every apparel challenge. Strict lists, crowded mall docks, unpredictable weekend spikes, and a narrow window to reset the floor all happen at once. The winning move is accuracy at the first delivery, not a large reship later.
Eagle Logistics Systems designs an apparel-specific path that gets the correct size curve to each store, keeps garments and shoes presentable, and makes week one feel routine.
Build size curves by store cluster
Stores that share school zones and demographics share similar size curves. Start there.
Use last year’s sell-through, local school rules, and price bands to set a curve per cluster.
Convert the curve into carton counts per store with a small safety layer for top sizes.
Publish a calendar that ties order cutoffs to sailings and set dates so everyone aims at the same week-one milestones.
What this prevents
Early stockouts in core sizes that force exchanges and frustrated customers.
Late top-offs that arrive after the first weekend rush.
Make product store-ready before it moves
Speed at the back door determines how fast you hit the floor.
Pre-ticket each unit by store with style, color, and size.
Pack fit packs and cartons in planogram order so associates can place in sequence.
Use moisture-resistant wraps and protective inserts for footwear to avoid crush and scuff.
Create a week-one priority channel
Week one sets the sales curve.
Twice-weekly dispatch for priority styles and sizes during the opening stretch, then taper to a steady rhythm.
Time dock appointments to match mall hours and staffing availability.
Targeted top-offs for specific gaps instead of broad reships that overwhelm receiving.
Apparel-specific gateway operations
At the gateway, our teams sequence priority styles first and pre-build store-specific pallets so cartons roll straight to the sales floor. If late cartons from a vendor arrive, we top-load only those styles without reopening the entire build. The goal is to protect sailing cutoffs and keep the assortment plan intact.
Protect quality from vessel to fitting room
Keep garments upright to protect folds and collars.
Brace shoe boxes to prevent collapse and crush.
Keep a simple photo and seal record at each handoff to resolve claims quickly when needed.
Returns, exchanges, and fast rebalancing
Exchanges happen after the first fittings. Plan for them.
Capture exchange trends by store in the first week to spot size gaps early.
Allow direct store transfers within a cluster to fix the most common size swaps.
Use small targeted releases to close gaps rather than resetting full waves.
Apparel KPIs
First-try size-curve hit rate
Week-one sell-through versus plan
Exchange-to-sales ratio by cluster
Damage rate on footwear cartons
Time from door to display
Share last year’s size curves and store clusters. We will build a week-one apparel plan that hits the floor on time with the right sizes in the right places. Request a quote!
