Clothing Store Insurance

As the owner of a clothing store, you've likely invested a lot of time, money, and effort into opening your business. Your clothing store needs appropriate protection against losses due to possible common hazards like fire damage, vandalism, theft, and more. A special kind of business insurance tailored to clothing stores can help get the job done right.

An independent insurance agent can help you get set up with all the coverage necessary for your clothing store. They'll get you matched to the right policy with ease. But first, here's a breakdown of insurance for a clothing store.

Clothing Store Industry Stats

Before you start shopping for insurance for your clothing business, it can be helpful to first get a better idea of the industry as a whole. Here are a few quick clothing industry stats to paint a better picture.

• There are currently 178,366 clothing boutique businesses operating in the U.S.
• The number of clothing stores in the U.S. has increased by about 1.7% annually over the last five years.
• The apparel market in the US is estimated at $344 billion.
• The largest part of the apparel market in the U.S. is the women's apparel section, which is estimated at $180 billion this year.

Seeing just how large the retail clothing industry is further illustrates the extreme necessity of having the right coverage for each business within it. Just one unexpected disaster like a break-in could cause potentially serious financial losses otherwise. 

The Most Common Risks Clothing Stores Face

While major, financially devastating incidents at clothing stores are rare, they do happen. Having the right insurance coverage in place to protect your business if something should go wrong is key to recovering from a potential disaster. Consider how, without insurance, your clothing store will be able to cope financially with the following scenarios:

• A customer slips and falls on your clothing store's floor, gets injured, and then sues your business.
• A fire in a neighboring store spreads to your own, burning and destroying a large section of your inventory.
• An employee claims to have been held back from promotion due to discriminatory practices and files a lawsuit against your business.
• A break-in occurs, and the thief steals several expensive coats and cash from a register.
• An extended power outage results in downtime for your business and many lost potential sales.

Insurance for clothing businesses helps address these scenarios and other common concerns store owners have.

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Protect Your Clothing Store's Building and Inventory with Business Property Insurance

Your business property, including your apparel inventory, is likely your clothing store’s biggest asset. It's crucial to have sufficient coverage to receive appropriate compensation in case of a total loss from a disaster like a fire. 

Consider the following types of property coverage for your clothing store:

• Commercial property insurance: This covers your store building, equipment, and the business-owned property in your store, such as inventory, garment racks, shelving, signage, mannequins, cash registers, and shopping carts. 
• Commercial flood insurance: Commercial insurance policies nearly always exclude incidents of natural water damage, so talk to your independent insurance agent about adding flood insurance to protect against disasters that could easily destroy your valuable inventory.
• Sewer backup insurance: If your clothing store is located at or below ground level, you may be at risk for damage caused by backed-up sewers or drains. This insurance also covers flooding caused by sump pump failure, which could happen during an extended power outage.

An independent insurance agent can help you get set up with all the right kinds of retail clothing store insurance when considering your unique property exposures.

Protect Your Clothing Store against Lawsuits with Business Liability Insurance

Your clothing store is at risk of lawsuits from customers and other third parties, as well as employees, without the right coverage. Having liability insurance protects your business from potentially large financial losses if you get sued. Protection includes compensation for court costs, legal fees, and settlement damages. 

Consider adding the following types of liability coverage to your policy:

• Commercial general liability insurance: This covers lawsuit costs if your clothing store gets sued by a third party for claims of personal property damage or bodily injury caused by your business.
• Product liability insurance: If a customer gets injured or ill from a product you sell in your store, this coverage can pay for the cost of a lawsuit.
• Employment practices liability insurance: This covers your business if an employee accuses you of engaging in an illegal employment practice, such as wrongful termination, sexual harassment, or discrimination.
• Cyber liability insurance: This protects your business from financial losses if a hacker breaks into your computer system and exposes, sells, or distributes private and sensitive data like employee personal records or customer credit card numbers.

An independent insurance agent can help you get set up with all the liability coverage your clothing store needs.

Additional Coverage Options to Consider for Your Clothing Store

Your retail or online clothing store insurance policy or used clothing store insurance policy may not yet be complete without adding more types of coverage. 

Here are just a few common additional types of business insurance to consider for your clothing store:

• Business income insurance: This provides your clothing store with a continuation of income and employee wages if it must shut down for an extended period due to a covered event like a fire.
• Workers’ compensation insurance: This covers medical treatment for injuries and illnesses sustained by employees due to job duties or the workplace. 
• Employee dishonesty insurance: This covers losses due to incidents of your employees engaging in dishonest practices such as stealing, embezzling, or other illegal actions.

Your independent insurance agent can recommend any additional types of coverage your clothing store may be in need of to complete your policy.

Get Help Building a Strong Clothing Store Insurance Policy

Ensuring that you buy suitable insurance coverage for your clothing store can be a complex process. However, an independent insurance agent can help make things much easier by shopping and comparing quotes from multiple carriers for you. 

These agents evaluate your exposures and then shop around for competitively priced coverage that meets your store's needs. They're also there for you down the road if you need to file claims or update your coverage.