Cotton is touted as “the fabric of our lives,” but Woolrich is the fabric of American history.
The Pennsylvania-based company—family-owned since its founding in 1830—has been supplying the U.S. military since the Civil War, when it was called upon to outfit Union soldiers. Since then, it has provided uniforms and blankets to American forces, and it outfitted Admiral Byrd's third Antarctic expedition in 1939. Long before consumers came to associate the Woolrich name with outdoor clothes and its signature red and black “Buffalo Check,” the government depended on the company for its warm and durable woolens. Indeed, anyone whose father or grandfather brought home a green Army blanket from service already owns something made by Woolrich.
And it's a pretty sure bet that anyone who lives in the town of Woolrich, Pa., has at least one, if not several, relatives who work for the company.
“You have no idea how many ‘legacy' employees we have,” says Nick Brayton, 34, the seventh-generation president of Woolrich. “We have fourth-generation legacies!”
Woolrich was founded by John Rich II, a wool carder from England who set sail to Philadelphia to build a new life in the fledgling United States in 1811. A few years later, he left the city and rented a mill in the woods of north central Pennsylvania, a remote area inhabited only by farmers and lumberjacks and, of course, the occasional black bear. By 1830 Rich had saved enough money to invest in his own factory, with a partner, Daniel McCormick.
All mills of the time—be they lumber, wool or grain—were driven by the power of flowing water, and so were built beside creeks and rivers. The first factory built by Rich and McCormick proved too much for the small creek where it was located, so they relocated a few miles away, in what would later become Clinton County and the town of Woolrich, Pa. That building remains a part of the Woolrich complex today.
By 1845, Rich had bought out his partner and also married a local farm girl, Rachel McCloskey. They had a total of 14 children. For more than 120 years, a Rich held the top position at Woolrich. In 1968, Robert Fleming Rich died and his son-in-law, Roswell Brayton Sr. (married to Catherine Rich), took over as president. Since then, all family presidents of Woolrich have been Braytons—first Roswell Sr., then his son, Roswell Jr., and now his grandson, Nick.
Brayton Sr. had been a former textile engineer in Fall River, Mass., but the formerly booming New England textile industry was waning, and by 1953 he was eager to put his engineering background to use in his wife's family firm. Brayton immediately began upgrading the firm's dated equipment and adding new machinery that cut production time in half. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Brayton continued to invest in technology, a move that helped keep Woolrich profitable at a time when domestic textile production began its sharp decline.
In many ways, the history of Woolrich parallels the industrial history of the United States, and certainly of its home state, where the company literally built the eponymous town it calls home (see sidebar on the next page). Woolrich, Pa., is located between State College—home of Penn State University—and Williamsport, a town that first made its fortunes in lumber. Local sheep were the early source of Woolrich wool, and local lumbermen, who needed warm outdoor clothing, its primary clients.
After the invention of the sewing machine, Woolrich began producing finished garments as well as woolen yard goods, introducing its famous “Buffalo Check Shirt” in 1850 and its “Utility Vest,” later called the “Railroad Vest,” around the same time. The vest, a dark gray woolen pinstripe, had four pockets in front to stash a variety of gear as needed by railroad engineers, telegraph operators, lumbermen and so forth. Meanwhile the famous red and black check pattern now recognized around the globe got its name not as a marketing gimmick, but simply because the designer of the pattern owned a herd of buffalo.
As America shifted from an agrarian to an industrial society, Woolrich's utilitarian garments also morphed into more stylish—but still durable—clothes for outdoor leisure, which remain the company's niche today. But some of its original products, including both the Railroad Vest and the Buffalo Check Shirt, are still in production, and as popular now as they were a century ago—except that the pockets are filled with smartphones.
Under the leadership of Roswell Brayton Jr., who became president and CEO in 1993, the company ventured into outdoor products and home furnishings. During his tenure, Woolrich expanded its domestic and international licensing and launched new mail-order and e-commerce businesses. Brayton Jr.'s time at the helm ended tragically and unexpectedly when he collapsed and died at the company's headquarters in 2007 at age 55.
Young family leaders
Today, company president Nick Brayton works alongside his eighth-generation cousin, Josh Rich, 27, who is vice president of the firm's international business. Non-family member John Ranelli stepped down as Woolrich's CEO in January 2013 to become president and CEO of Central Garden & Pet Company; at press time, Ranelli remained Woolrich's chairman of the board. Ranelli joined the Woolrich board in 2011 and became CEO in March 2012, bringing experience from lifestyle brands like Mikasa (tabletop) and FGX (accessories, including the Foster Grant sunglasses brand).
Brayton is not yet old enough to run for president of the United States (not that he's entertained such an idea), but he has no doubts about his ability to run the company.
“It's very exciting, and though it comes with a lot of expectations and responsibility—for my family, the company and our customers—it also comes with great opportunities,” he says. “I certainly wouldn't have taken this position if I didn't feel ready and capable of leading our company.”
After Brayton's father passed away, James Griggs served as Woolrich's interim (non-family) president. Brayton and Rich ascended to leadership positions in the company in April 2012.
“The roots of this family go extremely deep,” says Ranelli. Despite Brayton and Rich's youth, both have natural leadership skills that employees listen to and respect, he says. He calls the family part of the business the “secret sauce” in its success.
“The company wouldn't be making the progress it's making if they [Brayton and Rich] didn't step in and return the family to total control,” Ranelli says. “It's done wonders, for job integrity, the shareholders, the board and the employees. People believe in their goals, and it's a pleasure to watch them.”
A few other family members are actively involved in the business. Rich's father, Woods, is in sales, and Sally Brayton, Nick's stepmother, serves on the board, along with a cousin, Charlie Kurtz.
Cousins Brayton and Rich weren't especially close when they were growing up, though their fathers were good friends who, in Rich's words, “worked together and raised hell together.” Rich and Brayton always got along, but Brayton grew up in Woolrich while Rich grew up in Hershey, Pa., about 70 miles south. The only time he spent in Woolrich was when he visited his grandparents, and the times when either Brayton or Rich worked at the company didn't overlap until now. Rich did a marketing internship at the company during his sophomore year of college, but Brayton didn't work there at all until 2006, after earning a law degree from the University of Northern Kentucky. He was interested in licensing at a time when Woolrich was looking to expand, so it was a natural fit.
Rich, meanwhile, studied economics in college, and spent a year in Italy working for Woolrich's partner, a company called W.P. Lavori in Corso. With his interest and background in international business, he manages the firm's global presence. The Woolrich brand, with its iconic Americana image and consistent quality, has great appeal abroad, he says.
Woolrich shareholders are a tightly controlled group. The family still owns and controls a large majority, but not 100%. The only way a non-family member can receive ownership is by invitation of the family. Minority shareholders include longtime employees who were given some small equity during the '70s and '80s. There's a bonus program for non-equity employees, but no profit sharing.
Company executives say the drivers of Woolrich's success are the family values of management and, in exchange, the commitment of the employees.
“People here are treated as family even if they don't have the [Rich] lineage,” Brayton says.
Tackling marketplace challenges
The company's brand positioning is in the better to luxury sector. Its blue-label contemporary sportswear and outerwear are sold in upscale outdoor sports retailers and department and specialty stores; its black-label goods are sold in luxury boutiques like Fred Segal and Ron Herman.
As Millennial consumers mature, company executives already see differences in how the next generation shops, but it's not so much what they buy as how they buy, says Ranelli. The brand—which is equally successful at selling $40 polo shirts in the United States as it is $1,400 wool coats in Italy—focuses not on retail channels but rather on who its customers are, where they are based and how best to reach them. So it's no surprise that Woolrich is investing both time and money in digital, and especially mobile, technology for the future.
But then again, the company has had some practice at adapting. In the 1990s it was a brand largely favored by the over-40 set, and then-president Roswell Brayton Jr. knew that it had to win the 20- and 30-something customer to remain viable. A major low point occurred in the early 1990s, as it struggled to compete with brands like L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, Patagonia, Columbia Sportswear, the North Face and Timberland. In 1990, the company laid off half its staff, which then totaled 2,600; between 1991 and 1995, it closed six plants in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Nebraska. By 1999, the company said it had returned to the black by moving some of its manufacturing offshore and putting more emphasis on marketing and distribution. In other words, it needed to become a brand too, not just a manufacturer. It has successfully done that; mention the name “Woolrich” today and consumers immediately think of warm outdoor clothing—and the renowned signature plaid.
Still, the company has faced its share of challenges in recent years. In fact, in April 2012, at the same time Woolrich announced the promotions of Brayton and Rich, it implemented a major restructuring program, making layoffs at all levels and across all areas of the company, citing a downturn in business and rising costs in materials, labor and energy. In 2008, it closed the sewing division of its plant in Jersey Shore, Pa., eliminating about 50 jobs. A cutting facility remains in Jersey Shore, one of two plants —the other being the original—still operating in the United States. Today, the firm employs 210, a small fraction of its peak of 3,000 in 1988.
Nick Brayton says the reductions in force were needed as competition forced the firm to adapt to new realities. The 2012 layoff, Brayton says, “wasn't necessarily significant in number, but it was quite significant as a first step to move toward our vision for the future of the company. There is no joy in letting employees go, but it was a necessary step. We are now positioned to take Woolrich into its third century of business.”
Under Ranelli, the company implemented a number of new processes, including data monitoring and sharing; workflow has been streamlined and consolidated.
Woolrich has had to make some adjustments, because although “Made in America” is one of its top values, not all of its products are manufactured domestically. Brayton points out that no Woolrich product is represented as being made in America if it isn't. The firm expects its offshore facilities to uphold its family values and inspects offshore plants to ensure that proper labor practices are being followed, company executives say.
On Jan. 24, 2013, Brayton released an open letter affirming Woolrich's commitment to U.S. manufacturing. The statement read, “As proud as we are of our manufacturing legacy, it's true that we don't make 100% of our products in the USA as we once did. As the global economy grew and matured over the last 20 years, many core mill customers took their woolen business overseas. To remain relevant, competitive and solvent, we made the same difficult choice.”
In the statement, Brayton announced the company's plan “to tackle a new challenge ⦠bringing manufacturing back to Pennsylvania, one step at a time.” The company's goals, the statement said, are (1) to increase the yardage of wool produced in the company's woolen mill by 50% in 2013; (2) to introduce a 100% American-made apparel collection in the fall of 2013; and (3) to increase its American-made product offerings by 2015 so that more than half of Woolrich's woolen garments include American-made wool.
Extended family
Despite the large number of descendants of John Rich, the family has been relatively harmonious, Brayton says. Naturally, he reports, there have been some “healthy discussions” between generations about strategic initiatives and opportunities over the years, but he can't recall any major disagreements.
“There's never been a falling out to the point where it was destructive to the company,” confirms Josh Rich.
Both Brayton and Rich have siblings that aren't in the business. Brayton has four full brothers and sisters and a half-brother from his father's second marriage. Rich has two brothers. None work for the company, and, at present, none seem likely to.
“They probably won't come in. They all have good careers and are happy in their current lives,” says Brayton. “I don't see any coming aboard tomorrow, but we never say never.”
Nick Brayton and his wife have two young daughters. His older daughter, Haley, is a toddler, and he reports that he was very proud when she said “Woolrich” for the first time at age two. When the younger daughter, Hannah,was born, the nursery was decorated in a lamb motif—a nod to the family's history—but there were no plaid baby -blankets, Brayton says.
“Lambs are as much as my wife would allow,” he jokes.
Hedda T. Schupak is an editor and analyst specializing in fine jewelry and luxury retailing. She is the editor of The Centurion Newsletter, a weekly e-news magazine in the luxury fine jewelry industry.
Woolrich, the Town
Not surprisingly, Woolrich, Pa., sprang up around the company's mill. A history book of the company describes the town thus:
“As the mill grew it needed workers, and workers needed somewhere to live, to shop, to educate their children, and to worship. Neither John Rich II nor his descendents appear to have set down any guiding utopian philosophy for the community. But what emerged over the years was as tight-knit and integrated a community as any master planner could have envisioned.”
By the 1930s, the community supporting the mill and its workers included a church, a general store, a brick school house, a swimming pool, a baseball park and company-sponsored baseball team, a post office, a community building and a 20-acre park that still exists today.
The Clinton County newspaper, The Express, wrote in 1930 that “In Woolrich, the chief concern is the manufacture of a product in such a way that all those who join in the industrial process shall be rewarded with prosperity and the opportunity to live a pleasant life in attractive surroundings and under wholesome conditions.”
During the Great Depression, Woolrich used its employees to build more company houses in town, rather than lay off workers. At one point, the company even owned the town utilities and fire department. But eventually both Pennsylvania Power & Light (PP&L) and a local trash company pointed out to Woolrich's owners that it would make sense to sell the utilities and focus on its core business of making woolens.
Unsafe labor conditions around Pennsylvania's coal mines gave rise to militant labor organizations like the Molly Maguires, and ultimately to labor unions. Woolrich is not unionized, a rarity among the garment factories that used to dot northeastern -Pennsylvania.
Today, Woolrich still focuses on community. In addition to maintaining Woolrich Park with its playground, picnic area, three baseball fields and a Little League team, it maintains the part of the Great Eastern Trail that goes through the region. The Great Eastern Trail, running parallel to the Appalachian Trail farther east, stretches from Alabama to upstate New York.
The firm also is involved with the Outdoor Association and the Conservation Alliance, which provides grants to organizations across the nation that are involved in conservation efforts.
— H.T.S.
Copyright 2013 by Family Business Magazine. This article may not be posted online or reproduced in any form, including photocopy, without permssion from the publisher. For reprint information, contact bwenger@familybusinessmagazine.com.