Makers Monday: Check another great Alabama company! Fort Payne, Ala. used to be known as “The Sock Capital of the World.” With a rich textile history dating back to 1907, mills and manufacturing flourished. After NAFTA passed in the mid-1990s, things changed drastically around Fort Payne. The textile industry faded away, due to competition with low-priced overseas manufacturers. Gina Locklear, founder of Zkano, saw neighbors lose their livelihoods firsthand. Fortunately, her family’s mill struggled, but stayed open. She decided to help the local industry by creating her own organic-cotton sock brand, Zkano in 2009. “I thought if we can produce and sell our own line of socks, rather than manufacture them for other companies, it could possibly help our family business to thrive,” she said. Zkano translates to “a state of being good;” leading to its slogan: “Be Good Feel Good.” The company employs over 50 workers to manufacture and create the brightly colored socks. The biggest struggle for Zkano was sourcing local organic cotton, of which they have recently found a provider. Organic cotton is extremely labor intensive and expensive to grow. Because of this, it is very hard to find in the U.S. due to limited supply. Now the company no longer has to import its cotton and all manufacturing and materials are officially U.S.-based. For more information on Zkano check out: zkano/
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 23:30:00 +0000
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