Draft:L.W. Packard
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Last edited by TarnishedPath (talk | contribs) 3 months ago. (Update) |
| Industry | Textile manufacturing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1916 |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
| Products | Woolen winter clothing |
| Brands | Minus33 |
L.W. Packard is a textile company which originated as a woolen mill on the Squam River in Ashland, New Hampshire.[1] The mill was founded in 1916[2] and produced a variety of woolen cloths.[3] Before the mill ceased production in 2002,[4] it was one of the top ten textiles manufacturers in the world.[5] The company formed a subsidiary in 2000 called Minus33,[6] which continues to operate as an outdoor apparel brand.[7]
History
[edit]L.W. Packard was founded in 1916 when Luthur Packard bought an operational mill on the banks of the Squam River.[8] The mill was struggling financially by the late 1920s and received a large investment from Sadie Packard, Luthur's sister, who had sold off her stock portfolio just before the Wall Street crash of 1929.[9] Sadie Packard became a majority shareholder in the mill where her son, Lawson Glidden, also worked.[9] The mill would go on to stay in the Glidden family for five generations.[10]
By 1995, L.W. Packard had become Ashland's largest employer and its annual sales were approximately $40 million.[5] But beginning in the mid-1990s, the company began to see declining profits due to cheaper imports[11] and rising costs.[12] The company shifted to production of cashmere to improve profit margins,[13] and its clients included luxury retailers Bergdorf Goodman, Burberry, and Neiman Marcus.[14]
In 1999, to cut down on operating costs, L.W. Packard began to outsource its yarn manufacturing to Canada and Mexico, and partnered with a Chinese firm in Inner Mongolia, where it shifted its wool manufacturing.[15]
In 2000, L.W. Packard formed a subsidiary called Minus33 to manufacture woolen outdoor apparel.[6] In 2002, the company partnered with a Chinese manufacturer to expand Minus33.[2]
Though production moved to China, Minus33 continued to operate under the management of L.W. Packard and with the company's remaining employees.[2] By 2009, most of the machinery from the Ashland mill had been sold to a factory in China,[2] and the mill closed later that year.[16]
In 2018, Minus33 moved some of its production back to Ashland, New Hampshire, and by 2025 most of the company's socks were produced domestically.[10]
References
[edit]- ↑ Carter, Carol (18 July 2004). "Where there's a mill". New Hampshire Sunday News. New Hampshire Union Leader. p. D1.
Back in 1994, the mill on the Squam River was still going strong. Director Dan Brown remembers it being the best year since the company was founded in 1916.
- 1 2 3 4 Mullen, Shannon (30 October 2009). "With New Textile Rules, US Mill Shuts Down and Turns to Chinese Partner". Voice of America. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
- ↑ Cook, Robert M. "Packard: A Mainline Mill Survives". The Citizen.
The mill produces woolen cloth of many different weights and finishes that includes a variety of different contents such as 100 percent wool.
- ↑ Carter, Carol (18 July 2004). "Where there's a mill". New Hampshire Sunday News. New Hampshire Union Leader. p. D1.
When the mill closed in 2002, only 100 workers were still on the payroll.
- 1 2 Herbert, Chris (24 November 1995). "WOOLEN MILL'S SUCCESS STORY MIXES HISTORY, TECHNOLOGY". New Hampshire Business Review.
A private company, L.W. Packard does north of $40 million in annual sales, and at peak levels employs about 300 people, making it Ashland's largest employer.
- 1 2 Carter, Carol (18 July 2004). "Where there's a mill". New Hampshire Sunday News. New Hampshire Union Leader. p. D1.
While establishing the China operation, the firm also created Minus 33, a firm that sells imported cold-weather garments for outdoor recreation.
- ↑ Banowetz, Jeff (25 February 2024). "Form, Fun and Function". Atlanta Constitution. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- ↑ McCurrry, John W. (January 1996). "L.W. PACKARD: A QUIET LEADER IN LUXURY FABRICS". Textile World.
Packard's history dates from 1840 when the Briggs brothers of Leeds, England, built a woolen mill on the Squam River. Records indicate the mill ran sporadically until 1916 when Luther Packard bought the company. The company has remained in the family ever since. Glidden, 40, became president in 1989.
- 1 2 Herbert, Chris (24 November 1995). "WOOLEN MILL'S SUCCESS STORY MIXES HISTORY, TECHNOLOGY". New Hampshire Business Review.
Sadie was Luther Packard's sister, and during the '20s, built up a substantial portfolio. But the best advice she followed was to sell her holdings just months before the 1929 crash and subsequent bear market. Which was just in time for L.W. Packard as well, because the mill business had fallen on pretty hard times. She had already sent up her son, Lawson Glidden, to work for Luther when Lawson was still a teenager. Now she sent up her stock market profits, becoming a major investor in her brother's mill, and probably saving the L.W. Packard Co. from demise.
- 1 2 Martin, Bob (6 October 2025). "Cat socks for a cause: Minus 33 Nimbus socks benefit Mount Washington Observatory's research, weather forecasting". Laconia Daily Sun. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
- ↑ Carter, Carol (18 July 2004). "Where there's a mill". New Hampshire Sunday News. New Hampshire Union Leader. p. D1.
Company president John Glidden blames the demise of this 160-year old mill on cheap imports.
- ↑ Carter, Carol (18 July 2004). "Where there's a mill". New Hampshire Sunday News. New Hampshire Union Leader. p. D1.
..the firm was paying $100,000 in monthly electrical bills. Property taxes, wages, benefits, and environmental regulations were taking a toll.
- ↑ McCurry, John W. (January 1996). "L.W. PACKARD: A QUIET LEADER IN LUXURY FABRICS". Textile World.
Before the emphasis on luxury fabrics, Glidden says the company was "being beaten up continuously by the U.S. market and imports. We didn't like the margins... So, we looked at other products we could make with our manufacturing equipment and one classical way to improve margins is to move into higher value products." Cashmere and its blends now account for more than half of sales.
- ↑ Herbert, Chris (24 November 1995). "WOOLEN MILL'S SUCCESS STORY MIXES HISTORY, TECHNOLOGY". New Hampshire Business Review.
A partial list of L.W. Packard clients indicate the success of this single-minded approach to customer satisfaction: Burberry, Hickey Freeman, Hart Schaffner & Marx, Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis, Liz Claiborne, Neiman Marcus, Land's End, Nordstrom, L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, Bergdorf Goodman and Evan Picone.
- ↑ Carter, Carol (18 July 2004). "Where there's a mill". New Hampshire Sunday News. New Hampshire Union Leader. p. D1.
So in 1999, Packard outsourced its yarn-making operations to Mexico and Canada.
- ↑ Koziol, John (30 November 2017). "Former Ashland mill site generates numerous suggestions for re-use". Union Leader. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
Once a manufacturer of luxury textiles, the mill, which began operations in 1916, shut down in 2009.