Industry Textiles Type of business Private | Services Third Party Logistics | |
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Area served Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America Products Aluprotec, Coastguard, Dickson, Eradi-Lite, EverGreen, Firegard Textiles, Firesist, GlenGuard, GlenFlow, Gulf Stream, Harbor-Time, Main Street+, Meltex, MineMaster, MineMesh, Nite-Lite, Sea-Sprae, Sleeve-It, Sunbrella, SunBrite, Sunsharp, Sunvision, Sunworker, Sur Last, Vivitex Subsidiaries Dickson Constant, Dickson Coatings, Glen Raven Asia, Glen Raven Custom Fabrics LLC, Glen Raven Logistics, Glen Raven Technical Fabrics LLC, R. J. Stern, Strata Systems Inc, Trivantage, LLC Headquarters North Carolina, United States Founded 1880, Alamance County, North Carolina, United States Profiles | ||
Glen Raven, Inc. is a fabric manufacturing and marketing company. The company is headquartered in Glen Raven, North Carolina and headed by Allen Erwin Gant, Jr., the grandson of John Quintin Gant and founder of the industry advocacy group National Council of Textile Organizations. Glen Raven has operations in the United States, France, and China.
History
The company was founded as John Q. Gant Manufacturing Co. in 1880 by John Quintin Gant (1847–1930). They began manufacturing cotton duck awning fabrics in 1908. Glen Raven began developing pantyhose in 1953. Panti-Tights and Panti-Legs are introduced as the first commercial ladies pantyhose in 1959.("The History of Pantyhose and Nylon". ) Glen Raven exited the hosiery business in 1996.
The company wove the fabric used to make the first American flag that was planted on the moon at their weaving facility in Burnsville, NC (see http://www.glenraven.com/en_us/solutions/flagsandbanners). The company introduced acrylic-based fiber in 1961, which has vastly superior durability to cotton. Today, Sunbrella fabrics are used in a variety of applications including outdoor furniture, indoor furniture, boat covers, convertible automobile tops, and awnings. Glen Raven is best known for its Sunbrella line of performance fabrics.
In 1998 Glen Raven merged with Dickson SA of France, founded by David Dickson (1811–1869), a Scotsman and Officer of the Legion of Honour. The company started production in a new manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China on September 21, 2006.
In 2006, Sunbrella Awnings, Boat Tops, Canopies, and Umbrellas with Sun Protective Performance Fabrics UPF 50+ were awarded the "International Seal of Recommendation for UV Fabric/Umbrellas/Awnings" by The Skin Cancer Foundation, a worldwide organization dedicated to preventing skin cancer.
Glen Raven acquired the Astrup Company (founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1876 by William J.O. Astrup) and John Boyle & Company (founded in Brooklyn, New York in 1860 by John Boyle) in 2007. The combined Astrup and John Boyle companies were renamed Tri Vantage in March 2008. Tri Vantage was rebranded as Trivantage in November 2012