Lemco Mills, Inc

Burlington, NC

Lemco Mills, Inc. was founded in 1965 as a “known cost” supplier and manufacturer of sheer ladies hosiery for Montgomery Ward.  “Known -cost” was a term used to identify a process where a company agreed ahead of time to purchase goods at a fixed cost.  This guaranteed that the hosiery company could set a constant production schedule and build inventory in slow sales times.  In the normal business model, the retailer would wait until the last minute and order goods to be produced for the immediate sales season e.g., back-to-school, Christmas, and Easter.  Hosiery companies would scramble to produce at break-neck speed to fulfill the order, requiring workers to work overtime and then be faced with layoffs when the season was over.  Later, Lemco sold products to national retailers other than Ward.  The company was sold in 1990 to Berkshire Hosiery Corp., Wayne, NJ.  Berkshire still occupies the same building in the Koury Industrial Park, Burlington.

Berksire Hosiery
Koury Industrial Park,
Burlington, NC
Photo Gary N. Mock

 

 

 

Source: James W. Maynard, Personal interview, April 2009.