AMERICAN MILLS, INC.

      American Mills is a Manufacturer and importer of home textiles products that is located in Griffin Georgia. We have over three hundred thousand square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space and employ 250 people. Our satellite offices and showrooms are located in Dallas Texas and New York. Our products are sold through a variety of large to midsized retailers in the U.S. and Canada and include Quilts, Decorative Pillows, Table linens, Area Rugs, and Pet Beds.

  COMPANY HISTORY

        Spalding Knitting Mills was founded by Robert Paine Shapard in 1921.  It began in Griffin, Georgia with its initial products being children’s knit socks.  From that beginning, American Throwing Co. was developed by R.P. Shapard, Jr. in 1938.  The purpose of American Throwing Co. was to throw or twist raw silk into yarn for use in the hosiery industry.  This continued until 1941 when an embargo was placed on all raw silk coming into the United States from Japan.  American Throwing was selected by Dupont for experimentation and development of a new yarn for use in stockings.  This yarn is now known as nylon.

When war was declared in 1941, nylon was frozen.  It was to be used exclusively in parachutes.  American made the decision to enter the war effort.   In 1942 American was awarded a contract to produce 40 M.M. anti-aircraft projectiles.  We produced 25% of all 40 M.M. projectiles used during the war.  Actual production began in 1942 and continued until 1945 when all defense contracts were cancelled. 

At that point, Mr. Shapard made the decision to manufacture infant’s knit underwear.  The company then began to operate under the corporate name of American Mills, Inc.  The company realized the value of Sears Roebuck as a major customer and in 1954 began to operate as a partner with Sears under their basic contract.

In 1957 Fashion Pillows was created in order to manufacture decorative pillows under the Sears label.  Also, from the Sears partnership, an additional division was created in 1976.   William Shapard, Sr. created Fashion Industries to manufacture table linens for Sears.  This relationship with Sears continued into the mid 1980’s. 

American Mills then sold the underwear division to Dundee Mills and our customer base began to expand.  Fashion Industries and Fashion Pillows merged in 1998.  American Mills, Inc. continues to grow with William H. Shapard, Jr. as president and CEO.