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 KEY DATES IN GUILFORD MILLS HISTORY

1946: Company founded by James Hornaday in a garage on Sycamore Street, with six employees and two knitting machines that made synthetic fabric for ladies lingerie. Fabric production began in 1947.

1950: First knitting plant was built on West Market Street.

1961: Chuck Hayes hired by Hornaday to oversee Guilford’s new dyeing and finishing operation.

1960s: With new dyeing techniques that included laminating, napping, embossing and coating, Guilford takes warp knit from lingerie to dozens of other products — from automotive interiors to luggage.

1968: Hayes succeeds Hornaday as president and as chairman and chief executive officer in 1972.

1971: Goes public on over-the counter market.

1972: Moves to the American Stock Exchange.

1974: Sales exceed $100 million.

1984: Switches to the New York Stock Exchange.

1984: Guilford Mills is ranked the top performer among 46 publicly traded textile companies.

1988: Makes Fortune 500 List, placing 461st, with $539.1 million in sales.

1989: Has 60 percent market share in its primary business of warp knitting.

July 1990: Citing slowing business, Guilford lays off 20 Greensboro employees, and closes a 300-worker plant in Augusta, Ga.

August 1990: Posts first lost in company history: $8.04 million.

November 1993: CEO Chuck Hayes appointed to a coalition of industries formed to support the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

September 1994: Increases ownership in Mexican fabric maker, Grupo Ambar from 20 to 75 percent.

November 1999: Chuck Hayes steps down as chief executive and is succeeded by John Emrich.

January 2000: Moves dyeing and finishing operations to new plant in Mexico, 200 Greensboro employees lose their jobs.

July 2000: Citing poor profit, a Greensboro plant is closed, 400 more employees lose their jobs.

November 2000: Phases out apparel-fabric business. 550 Greensboro employees lose their jobs.

March 2002: Files for bankruptcy protection.

September 2002: Federal judge gives final approval for reorganization plan.

Oct. 4, 2002: Emerges from bankruptcy. New common stock issued.

Feb. 27, 2004: Announces that Cerberus Capital Management, a New York-based private equity firm, has agreed to buy the company for $107 million.

April 15, 2005: CEO John Emrich steps down “by mutual agreement” with the company owners; replaced by Shannon M. White.

Aug. 15, 2005: Wooed by $400,000 in incentives, the company says it will move its headquarters to Wilmington.

2008: California-based Tower Investments buys the vacant Guilford Mills property off Hornaday Road in western Greensboro (300,000 square feet of space on 30 acres) with plans to eventually raze the building and use the land for a retail development for about $4.6 million.

April 8 2010: Guilford Performance Textiles will close its Greensboro plant and lay off about 150 employees by the end of the year. 

Source: News & Record Archive