Companies Face A Mask Surplus As Sales Evaporate Following New CDC Guidance

Face masks, last year's must-have accessory and once hard-to-come-by pandemic requirement, have gone out of style. Just ask Maya Gorgoni, a Manhattan designer and apparel business owner who masked-up no less a celebrity than Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The designer is now stuck with thousands of cloth face masks — and few buyers — since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its mask guidance for Americans who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

"The last two days have been pretty quiet," Gorgoni, co-founder of Royal Jelly Harlem, told CBS MoneyWatch.

Gorgoni said she has roughly 5,000 masks in stock, in different patterns. She plans on discounting the $15 masks and is already including them, free, with purchases of her clothing and other accessories.

"We recently got a few huge orders to customize masks that I already had in stock, so that's helping — because I'm otherwise a little bit nervous about getting stuck with so many masks," Gorgoni said. 

She also hopes to donate 500 or so masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in India: "I'm interested in donating to a legit organization — I just don't know where to send them." 

The CDC last week said fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to wear masks in most settings, causing already waning mask sales to plummet, according to fashion designers and other manufacturers who retooled their factories to produce different varieties of face coverings to help slow the spread of the coronavirus last year. 

"Mask sales have dissipated to almost nothing," Los Angeles Apparel founder Dov Charney told CBS MoneyWatch. "We did really well with it and our workers were proud to be a part of it — and we are now focusing on getting back to our ordinary business."

"Multimillion dollar moment"

Charney and other apparel makers last March heeded government calls for local businesses to produce face masks and other personal protective equipment amid a nationwide medical supply shortage at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S.

When the South-Central L.A.-based company's operation was at its peak, more than 1,000 Los Angeles Apparel employees were churning out hundreds of thousands of masks per week, according to Charney. 

There was no shortage of buyers for the washable cotton face masks selling for $30 per 3-pack. 

"Mask sales have dissipated to almost nothing," Los Angeles Apparel founder Dov Charney told CBS MoneyWatch. "We did really well with it and our workers were proud to be a part of it — and we are now focusing on getting back to our ordinary business."

"Multimillion dollar moment"

Charney and other apparel makers last March heeded government calls for local businesses to produce face masks and other personal protective equipment amid a nationwide medical supply shortage at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S.

When the South-Central L.A.-based company's operation was at its peak, more than 1,000 Los Angeles Apparel employees were churning out hundreds of thousands of masks per week, according to Charney. 

There was no shortage of buyers for the washable cotton face masks selling for $30 per 3-pack.