Page 8 - AMCO NEWS - February, 1982
Successful Retailer Worked .
Adams-Millis As Young Man
A High Point man, who as a
teenager worked at Adams-Millis
for 20 cents an hour, heads a local
retail clothing business which
grosses two million dollars an
nually. Arnold Craven, whose
business on North Main Street
bears his name, also would
qualify as a person with one of the
most recognized names in the
country since a catalog for
another business, “Arnold
Craven Direct Marketing,” is
mailed to a million households
four times a year.
Mr. Craven, a native High
Pointer, recalled that numbers of
young High Pointers worked for
Adams-Millis in the “Great
Depression Era” and all felt
lucky to have the jobs. He recall
ed, however, that many of the
young men were working to put
themselves through college,
while he had left high school and
was working to augument his
family’s income. During the four
years he was with Adams-Millis
he also married his high school
sweetheart, Kathryn Durham.
When the young couple was ex
pecting their first child, young
Craven took a Saturday job in a
clothing store because of his add
ed responsibilities.
Later he was offered a job in
one of the leading men’s stores in
High Point. Sixteen years ago,
after many years’ experience in
stores in High Point and Winston-
Amold Craven
Salem, Mr. Craven decided to go
into business for himself.
His first store was in the
Sheraton Hotel building. His first
year’s sales were $145,000;
however in ten years the business
was so successful that he pur
chased prime Main Street pro
perty and built a 7,500 square-foot
store which since has been ex
panded to 10,500 feet. Last year
the direct marketing business
was launched under the direction
of Mr. Craven’s son, Mark. Pro
jections for this business are that
in three years sales will amount
to from three to five million
Ron Stroup Now
SPEBQSA Member
Ron Stroup, a Hosiery Divi
sion Vice-President and Account
Executive for Supermarket and
Special Accounts, from early
childhood sang in his church
choir and in school programs. He
recently was accepted for
membership in the Winston-
Salem chapter of the Society for
the Preservation and Encourage
ment of Barbershop Quartet
Singing in America.
Membership in the organiza
tion requires a weekly three-hour
practice session and in the begin-
Photos, Articles
Win Awards
Kernersville News has been
awarded the first place prize for
1981 news coverage among the 89
weekly papers in North Carolina,
for their reporting of the Adams-
Millis fire last year.
Also, the photographs of the
fire taken by the paper staff and
including one of Robert M. Bun
dy, Jr. President of Adams-Millis
Hosiery Company, took third
place in the weekly paper
photography division.
ning, members sing with the
chorus, which includes all 66
members of the chapter. Before
and after these practices,
members participate in
“woodshedding,” which is a form
of practice in quarters, to im
prove their performances.
Ron said the complete
repetoire of some 20 songs, as
well as some choreography, must
be learned letter-perfect.
Once each month, the members
sing in area churches to share
their harmony in sacred music.
Ron said in July he plans to go
with the Winston-Salem chapter
to Pittsburgh to observe the inter-
national competition. Some
12,000, including performers and
their families, are expected to at
tend.
Another hobby of Ron’s is
squbre dancing, and he and his
wife Ann, curently are taking in
struction in this American folk
dance art and are looking for
ward to joining the Oak Hollow
Squares, a local square dance
group, after about three months
of instruction.
Ron is a native of Shelby and
has been with Adams-Millis since
1976. He and his wife have two
sons, Ronald, Jr., who is 16, and
Craig, 14.
dollars annually. An outlet store
also has grown out of this enter
prise.
Mr. Craven is quick to give
credit to his family for the sup
port and encouragement they
gave him through the years. He
said his wife work^ in his
business from the beginning and
still is actively involved. His son,
Mark, while still a high school
student, designed the interior of
Mr. Craven’s first store and also
drew the preliminary plans for
the present store. Although he
now has passed the presidency of
his business to his son, retailing
remains Mr. Craven’s “work and
hobby.” A daughter and son-in-
law who formerly worked for Mr.
Craven now own their own retail
store in Hilton Head, a posh South
Carolina resort.
When asked what has con
tributed to his successful career,
Mr. Craven said that in addition
to the cooperation of his family,
he would say his belief that
clothing should be an investment.
“We sell only the highest quali
ty clothes,” he stated, noting that
clothing is rated on a scale from l
to 6-. “We will not go below the
point where we feel the quality of
the garment would not represent
a sound investment,” he added.
His store does sell some 6- lines,
which are the finest hand-sewri
clothes available anywhere.
Because of the local furniture
markets, some regular
customers of Arnold Craven’s are
from throughout the United
States and other countries. “We
stay open five nights during each
niarket for the buyers’ conve
nience,” Mr. Craven said, adding
that even some residents of New
York City shop with him regular
ly because he can offer the
clothes at a lower price, because
of lower overhead.
Another feature of Mr.
Craven’s business is the sponsor
ship of a stageshow, “Motion,”
which each year is a showcase for
area talent and for new fashions.
Last year this project was
nominated for a state art award.
Last year, also, the Arnold
Craven Direct Marketing catalog
was selected as one of the four
best Christmas catalogs out of
some 600 in the United States.
All proceeds from the
“Motion” stageshow are donated
to the High Point Community
Theater, making Arnold Craven
the largest benefactor in High
Point’s business community, to
this project.
TexElastic
To Exhibit
In May, TexEslastic Corpora
tion, an operating division of
Adams-Millis Corporation, will
exhibit the products made at
their plants in Archdale and
Raeford at an international
hosiery exhibition in Charlotte.
A1 Godley, Customer-Service
Export Manager for TexElastic,
said in addition to the TexElastic
products, the exhibit also will in
clude products which use elastic
covered yarns in their manufac
ture. These include such items as
ladies’ hosiery, socks for the en
tire family, elastic bandages and
narrow fabric for lingerie
garments and for some outer
wear garments.
TexElastic’s sales force will
operate the booth TexElastic will
set up at the exhibition which is
expected to draw many
thousands of visitors from
throughout the United States and
the world.
In
Memoriam
Thomas Wishon
Husband of Leila Wishon
Plant 1
Arvie White
Husband of Laura White
Plant 2
retired
Turner G.
Plant 1
Pike
Jessie Galloway
Plant 2
Frank Chapman
Plant 3
Leva Kirkman
Plant 3
Lula Shore
Plant 4
Geneva Holt
Plant 4
John Merrick
Account Executive
Former Chicago Office
United Way
Award Goes
To Plant 4
Adams-Millis Corporation’s
Plant 4 in Kernersville received a
“You Make A Difference” award
in last year’s United Way Appeal
in Forsyth County. The award
was given to 24 employee groups
in the county which attained the
most outstanding employee
campaign results in the fund
raising drive.
Quick Qu
How much do you know about
the form-fitting stockings and
hosiery most people take for
Ranted? This quiz can help you
1. The first man said to have
worn silk knitted hosiery was (a)
Rodrigo Diaz de Vival (El Cid)
(b) Henry VIII of England (c)
Henry II of France?
2. The first man-made hosiery
fiber was (a) nylon (b) artificial
silk (c) rayon?
3. The sheerest hosiery made
today has fibers measuring (a) 6
denier (b) 9 denier (c) 12 denier?
ANSWERS: 1. (c) Henry II is
given credit for wearing the first
silk stockings knitted to fit. In the
next century, Elizabeth I of
France a similar method was
patented by Comte Hilaire de
Chardonnet, who built the first
factory for its manufacture, but
his fiber was inadequate
woven goods. FinaUy, in l91o’
for
Garden Tips
rayon factory in Germany
produced the first stockings from
a synthetic fiber. 3. (b) 12 denier
is considered quite sheer, but
stockings of only 6 denier were
exhibited in London in 1956.
, auuui [WO
*7^ This will cut down on rot and
nuloew.
25^trT^n every
f ^0 30 feet in your vegetable
garden. This will be a Ltural
insecticide. odiurai
e ^ ri water your
England set'a trenrbVweariii* |ves"to?leL«"
e
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From Kathy Yoder
— Plant 6, Hickory
1. If you are planning Irish degrees F. generally is adequate
po toes, cut them about two water purposes
2. A faucet that drips a drop of
water per second will waste
about 2,500 gallons a year.
That’s money down the drain.
If it’s hot water, that’s even more
money wasted.
3. Color television sets con
sume over 50 percent more
electricity than black and white
tNiV i\
/5T7
rf 140
BULK RATE
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit No. 78
High Point, N.C.