What do you think is the legacy of Pillowtex?
How have the mills affected Kannapolis? How will they continue to shape the community?
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Downtown has been affected because there are not that many businesses open , I remember when I worked in the mill how the town was alive and everyone shopped down there instead of going to the big malls it just makes me sad whenever I go down there now . I loved to go into the outlet stores and by towels , sheets, comforters and know that it was going to last me several years and now all of those items that we buy now from over seas falls apart in a month or so when you wash them . When I worked at FieldCrest we had pride in our work and nothing went out unless it was made right and I should know I was one of the inspectors. I worked for FieldCrest Cannon for 10 yrs. but I had left the mill before it closed down and I went into the Medical field but it pushed some of the other folks into getting a better education and better jobs . I think the new business and campus will be great for Kannapolis for the younger group of kids and hope they can revive downtown to become a thriving community again.
Posted by Debbie Honeycutt on 07.15.2008 at 02:13 pmThere is no legacy left of Cannon Mills….Everything is gone. I am surprised that Murdoch hasn’t wiped out the mill houses.
There were good, harding working people at the mill. My grandfather worked at Cabarrus Mill (plant 4). Other members of my family and my husband’s family worked and retired from there. I planned to retire from there.
Murdoch is ruling Kannapolis like Bruton Smith does Concord. When he says jump,Kannapolis says “How high?” It’s not Cannon Village anymore, it’s The Village.
Sad to see nothing is left to remind us of the past from whence we came.
Sadly enough Cannon Mills, Fieldcrest/Cannon and Pillowtex (the buildings)are now gone. Cannon Mills will never be forgotton or the legacy that Mr. Cannon built. His vision into the future helped countless people of Kannapolis and surrounding areas to live somewhat confortably and allowed the workers to send their children to good colleges for higher education. The problem with that is the children moved on to bigger and better things, while at the same time the textile industry was dwendling.
Mr. Murdock can’t be blamed for the death of textiles. Mr. Murdock saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. In buying the mill and property going along with it he enabled the mill to continue for a while longer.
Now Mr. Murdock is helping to bring back life to Kannapolis. I lived in K-Town and worked briefly in the mill. I now live in Colorado and visit my home town at least yearly. I keep up with the progress of the “Village” via the internet and have all the good memories many have of the mill.
I do beleive in the future Kannapolis will be the next big “Research Triangle” that Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh is now. Sure we won’t see the old mill buildings or be able to drive around “idiot circle” but better things will come. The NC Research campus will need people for all kinds of positions from cleaning crews to telephone operators to the highest positions of professors, researchers and medical doctors. The community just needs to be open to seeing the bigger picture. Just wait and see. Some of your children who moved away to bigger towns and better jobs may be coming home to work at the research campus. Thanks Mr. Murdock for helping Kannapolis move into the future.
Back in 1997 I worked as an Asst. Systems Administrator under John Cello supporting the 200+ Oracle programmers and other IT team members as PillowTex took over FieldCrest Cannon. The ERP implementation and PC replacement project was a tremendous cash drain on PillowTex and I feel was the beginning of Fieldcrest Cannon’s demise.
The only legacy PillowTex left me was an empty feeling in my stomach when I heard they were closing the plant. Luckily I had found another job before that time but I truly believe their intentions all along were to close all competition because they knew what was coming down the line.
They can try and blame the closing on Unionization, but we all know the real reason for the closing. Thank you Bill Clinton for the NAFTA agreement that started the movement of companies to low cost labor oversees.
PillowTex has no legacy in Kannapolis as far as I am concerned, only a bad memory and a bad feeling in my gut.
Posted by Tom Strader on 09.16.2008 at 12:32 pm
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