Chicago-based school uniforms provider Cloz is one of the leading names in school uniform design.
A small company and relatively middle-aged at 20 years old, the issues facing Cloz are in many ways representative of typical small companies across the US.
Despite the fact that Michael Cohen, founder of Cloz, was responsible for the uniforms worn by President Obama's children at the University of Chicago Lab Schools, Mr Cohen is nevertheless concerned about the future prospects facing his business.
A feature on the company by CNN Money, Dress for success has outlined how the seasonal nature of the business allows Mr Cohen the opportunity to expand into a sideline business.
However, with credit frozen at present and the banks themselves becoming increasingly concerned about lending obtaining the capital to expand and grow his business has proved difficult, the report explained.
Small businesses such as Cloz - which employs between 25 and 50 seasonal staff - are interesting to mainstream media because they can offer an insight into the success or the downfalls of the economy.
The recession may well be hitting all aspects of society at present but by looking at a small business, the mainstream media can see a multitude of causes and effects which are at play, all at once.
But small business owners can also attract media attention by doing the precise opposite, and proving received wisdom wrong.
The New York Times this week threw the spotlight on two businesses in California producing high-end goods despite the recession, in the report A Label of Pride That Pays.
One of those companies, Swerve, produces top-of-the-range office furniture for businesses and has its manufacturing base in Berkley.
The other, Heath Ceramics, produces ceramic tableware from start to finish in its factory in Sausalito.
Discussing with the New York Times her decision to purchase the business six years ago, Catherine Bailey said: "Many of the employees had worked there for decades and knew everything, including how to fix the machines if they broke down."
This kind of "idiosyncratic" way of working is often precisely what pushes the cost of such goods higher than automated methods but in times of recession such a method of working can add value to a product, giving consumers extra reasons to part with their cash.
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