Madison’s Fair Trade clothing company is feeling the economic pinch.

In an early April e-mail message to customers, Fair Indigo co-founder and CEO Bill Bass asked for help, saying the company’s bank is “looking for some reassurance.”

“We are a young company and with stories about the poor economy making headlines, our bank is looking for some reassurance that customers who have supported our fair trade mission for the past two years will continue to do so — that fair trade is not a passing fad,” wrote Bass in the message.

Fair Indigo Chief Operating Officer Don Hughes said while the company is not in financial trouble, it has been experiencing a sales slump this spring.

“We’re suffering the effect of the economy as is virtually every business,” Hughes said.

Hughes would not elaborate on the company’s situation, but said the bank has not called in the loan or denied financing.

In an e-mail response to questions, Bass also stressed that the company is not in a financial crisis. Bass said the company’s bank continues lending to it, but wanted more collateral.

“Like every other retailer (and newspaper I should point out), we would prefer that this recession would go away and we wanted to address that directly with our customers,” Bass wrote. “One founding tenet of our company is to be honest about who we are and candid about what we are about.”

In addition to being up front, Bass said another founding principal of Fair Indigo is to use customer word-of-mouth in marketing.

The plea to customers helped generate immediate record sales that day and e-mail responses from more than 100 customers who pledged their support.

“Good results continued for several days then tailed off as would be expected from an e-mail call to action,” Bass said.

Fair Indigo, launched in 2006 by several former Lands’ End executives and employees, had seen robust sales prior to this period from its Web site, fairindigo.com, from its catalog, and from its retail store at the Hilldale Shopping Center.

But startup businesses can be hit hard during economic downturns, Hughes said. For Fair Indigo, the situation emerged in February.

“Bottom line for us is that our current customer base of 20,000 continues to perform really well,” Bass said. “But acquiring new customers is proving tougher in this environment.”

It’s a situation facing many retailers, big and small, following slow sales at the end of 2007. Consumer jitters over economic factors such as an impending recession, the current credit crunch and, perhaps more importantly, higher prices for everyday consumer goods including food and gas have led to documented declines in spending.

In its April brief, consumer behavior tracker BIG Research said consumers will focus purchases on needs rather than wants. Shoppers will also be frugal, waiting for sales or clearances to buy. This month, 45.4 percent surveyed said they’re becoming more practical with purchases, the highest rating since the period following hurricane Katrina.

Another report released in February by the research firm Datamonitor shows that consumers will choose brands actively making a difference in a transparent and trustworthy manner. This is expected to produce double-digit growth for Fair Trade purchases in the next five years.

This is evident at Just Coffee, Madison’s Fair Trade coffee importer and roaster. That cooperative was feeling stressed earlier this year, but reports about 30 percent growth in sales during the first quarter.

“We were having conversations around here earlier this year saying this is what an economic downturn feels like,” said Just Coffee co-founder Matt Earley. “But now, we’ve seen some rebounding.”

Denis Collins, a professor of business ethics and management at Edgewood College in Madison, said many people tighten up spending during an economic slump. And companies that engage in social consumerism like Fair Indigo are not immune to economic factors.

“Everyone is getting hit,” Collins said of retailers. “But the hope is with Fair Trade that people are committed and they’ll continue to support Fair Trade organizations. I would definitely buy another shirt from them. It’s a great company and I would hope that they do well.”