Glen Raven inc. is a fabrics company headquartered in Glen Raven, N.C. that has been around since 1880. Their ability to evolve over time and remain above the curve is truly impressive. Their mission is to enhance life for global consumers with the world’s most innovative fabric-based, market-driven solutions. I honestly did not know what to expect walking into the warehouse today, I had no clue who their “average” customer was, or even that the company itself was actually separated into three different divisions. Those three divisions are Trivantage, Custom Fabrics Worldwide, and Technical Fabrics Worldwide.
It was very interesting to hear about a company that was at one point producing the fabric of all NFL players uniforms, then realized that they would not be able to compete with international industries, so they completely changed their business and now supply the fabric of all North American automotive industries besides Kia and Hyundai. Glen Raven knew that it would not be able to compete with China’s cheap fabric prices, so they decided to completely overhaul their operation and produce innovative, high quality fabrics. They provide fabric to the military, to firefighters, for sailboats, and even for graduation gowns as we saw today. I had no clue how many brands Glen Raven was actually responsible for, including Sunbrella, GlenGuard, Strata, Vivitex, Dickson, etc. They produce everything from fabric for clothing, to flame retardant fabric for firefighters, and even a fabric involved in a military netting that hides whatever is beneath it from enemy radar detectors.
In Peter Drucker’s section on his fourth question, “What are our results?” He tells the reader to never really be satisfied with your results and always have a plan for the future. I think that the people at Glen Raven are living proof that Drucker is correct, because the Gant family has always had a plan to remain a relevant competitor in their field(s), which is definitely necessary in order for a family owned company to last four generations. They have maintained their values of always employing engaged associates who are embracing change to deliver profitable growth through the pursuit of delighted customers guided by honorable stewardship reflected in confidant shareholders.
During our visit we toured an area specifically designed for finishing and dying almost any fabric you could think of, which was pretty interesting to see. I really enjoyed our visit to Glen Raven today, but it also made me realize that I probably do not want to pursue a career in that field.
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