Aaron M. Feuerstein, Former CEO of Malden Mills Industries, Dies at 95 – WWD

Aaron M. Feuerstein, former chief govt officer of Malden Mills Industries, died Thursday evening of problems associated to a fall he had days earlier than at his dwelling in Brookline, Mass., in line with the Related Press. Feuerstein was identified for his tenacity and dedication to his staff and to the neighborhood of Lawrence, Mass., the place the textile mill was positioned.

On Dec. 11, 1995, a devasting blast and fireplace on the Lawrence facility despatched 24 employees to the hospital, in line with WWD stories, which additionally famous that Feuerstein vowed to not solely get manufacturing up and operating rapidly, however to proceed to pay its employees. On the time of the fireplace, Malden Mills was gearing up for a $20 million growth to assist gas the success of its Polartec cloth.

On Dec. 19, WWD famous that regardless of the fireplace, the corporate restarted a small portion of its Polartec manufacturing and that Feuerstein promised to pay all of its 3,200 employees, together with the two,400 impacted by the fireplace, for the following 30 days whereas extending medical insurance for the following 90 days.

Feuerstein ended up persevering with to pay all his employees past the preliminary 30 days promised till the plant was totally operational. Within the ninetieth anniversary problem of WWD in July of 2001, Feuerstein was named one among a number of “Textile Titans” by WWD.

In November 2001, the corporate discovered itself in chapter. The corporate submitted a reorganization plan and emerged from Chapter 11, however by 2007, Malden Mills was in hassle once more. The corporate filed for chapter and was then purchased by Gorden Brothers. A month later, a brand new firm, Polartec LLC, which is owned by Chrysalis Capital Companions, purchased the property of Malden Mills.

Malden Mills was based in 1906 by Henry Feuerstein, Aaron’s grandfather. The corporate provided specialised materials and wool apparel. The elder Feuerstein constructed the corporate by providing numerous improvements and likewise bending with the instances. Throughout the peak of the Nice Despair, the corporate was compelled to drop the value of its famed worsted swimwear from $8.50 to $7.

And lengthy earlier than Polartec fleece hit the market, Malden Mills delivered U.S. patents pending materials for the knitwear market. In 1934, the corporate ran adverts in WWD for its Flan-O-Tweed and Repla-Twist materials. However it was in 1979 that Malden Mills turned world famend for its Polartec fleece when the corporate teamed up with Patagonia to develop “Synchilla”  — an artificial chinchilla cloth.

In November 1995, a month earlier than the devasting fireplace, Aaron Feuerstein instructed WWD that he anticipated the Polartec enterprise to generate $1 billion in gross sales by 2003. In June 2004, Feuerstein left the corporate. In July, Malden Mills named Michael Spillane, a former Tommy Hilfiger govt, as president and chief govt officer. Even after his departure, Feuerstein’s legacy nonetheless appeared to be embedded in Polartec.

At this time, clients of Polartec cloth embody Patagonia, The North Face, Marmot, Mountain Hardwear, L.L. Bean, Out of doors Analysis, and Cabela’s, amongst different manufacturers, in addition to every department of the U.S. army.