Fieldcrest-Cannon Corporation and Pillowtex Corporation
In 1982, California billionare David H. Murdock purchased the Cannon Mills Company and its 660 acres (2.7 km2) of surrounding property. Murdock proposed a redevelopment plan to the company and the community which included the renewal of downtown Kannapolis (now Cannon Village) and the construction of a brand new YMCA. On November 6, 1984, the Town of Kannapolis was officially incorporated, becoming the city of Kannapolis. Also that year, David Murdock constructed a brand new YMCA. The next year, the company and all of its Bath and Bedding division were bought by Eden, North Carolina-founded Fieldcrest Mills, Incorporated, for somewhat less than $250,000,000. This became the Fieldcrest-Cannon Corporation. The newer smokestack of Plant One, painted white since its construction in 1950, was repainted maroon, also bearing the corporate name. Many union problems resulted after the purchase.
In September, 1997, Fieldcrest-Cannon was sold to the Pillowtex Corporation for $700,000,000. Sales slid, and problems began to appear as Pillowtex lost money. According to a former CEO of Pillowtex, its largest product buyer, Wal-Mart, encouraged the company to move production overseas but Pillowtex refused. It was undercut by competitors and stopped supplying Wal-Mart.[1]
Three years later, in November 2000, Pillowtex filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. In May 2002, Pillowtex briefly surfaced from bankruptcy for little more than a year, but things kept sliding.
On July 30, 2003, Pillowtex Corporation announced the complete bankruptcy of the company. Over the night of July 30, 7,650 people became unemployed (4,340 in Kannapolis alone). This was the largest permanent layoff in the history of the State of North Carolina. The bankruptcy announcement also included an agreement for Pillowtex assets to be sold to GGST LLC, a joint venture of four liquidation companies (SB Capital Group, Gibbs International, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners and Tiger Capital Group), for $56 million, subject to bankruptcy court approval. [2]