From Smoke Stacks to Science
1982
1974
In 1971, the culture would begin to change after the death of the second CEO, Charles Cannon. The mill would soon go from only having 2 CEO’s over a span of 80 years, to having 3 in just 10 years ("Pillowtex five years," ).
The Fall of a Great Empire
Don Holt retires and Harold Hornaday takes over as President. A short five years would pass before Otto Stolz is named President CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Cannon Mills when Harold Hornaday retires. (Horton, 2006).
After his purchase, Murdock announced his plans for $20 million worth of renovations to the downtown shopping area of Kannapolis, which is now known as Cannon Village Shopping Center (“History of Kannapolis,”).
Fieldcrest Cannon was sold to the Pillowtex Corporation located in Dallas, Texas for a total of $700 million in cash and stock ("History of Kannpolis,").
Just two years after purchasing what was once the largest textile producer in the US, Murdock sells Cannon Mills to Fieldcrest Mills, Inc. and Cannon Mills becomes known as Fieldcrest Cannon, Inc. Soon after the sell, operations were downsized, which led to major layoffs of educated executives and administrators (“History of Kannapolis,”).
1997
1986
July 30th, 2003
Pillowtex closed its doors for the last time after financial ruin and was liquidated. Out of the 7,650 people employed by the Pillowtex company, 4,340 lived in Kannapolis and the surrounding counties. When Pillowtex shut its doors, it became the largest one-day layoff in the history of North Carolina. One year later in December 2004, David Murdock purchased the deserted Plant 1 of Pillowtex (originally Cannon Manufacturing Company) at an auction ("History of Kannapolis,").
Pillowtex files for bankruptcy protection ("History of Kannapolis,").
2000