Ending Saturday mail deliveries isn't the only way the US Postal Service hopes to stave off financial ruin: the agency is also getting into the fashion business, partnering with an Ohio garment company to launch a new clothing line starting in 2014.
The line is called "Rain Heat & Snow," after the Postal Service's motto "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." It will initially be geared toward men and involve some sort of "wearable electronics," according to the Postal Service.
"This agreement will put the Postal Service on the cutting edge of functional fashion"
“This agreement will put the Postal Service on the cutting edge of functional fashion,” said Postal Service Corporate Licensing Manager Steven Mills in a statement published on the agency's website. “The main focus will be to produce Rain Heat & Snow apparel and accessories using technology to create ‘smart apparel’ — also known as wearable electronics.”
The clothes will be be made by Wahconah Group, a lesser-known men's fashion company from Cleveland, Ohio, which is setting up a new showroom in New York City. Whether or not they sell enough to help curb the Postal Service's massive operating losses, the agency could soon be expanding into other businesses as well, with lawmakers recent proposing the USPS be allowed to do everything from ship beer to issue hunting permits.