Parkdale was chartered in 1916 by a group of investors in Gastonia, NC. Operation began in 1918, producing 425 tons of thread yarn per year in one plant. Fifty years after the company was first chartered, Parkdale Mills Plant #2 opened in Gastonia, doubling the production of the company. More acquisitions followed, and by 1992, Parkdale was operating 18 yarn spinning plants in the United States. While acquisitions continued, business strategy turned to construction in the mid-1990s. Over a period of 15 years Parkdale built nine new plants in the U.S., the latest being the W. Duke Kimbrell plant which opened in Gaffney, South Carolina in 2010. Additionally, an international manufacturing and distribution strategy initiated operations in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, and Colombia. In 2008, Parkdale furthered its expansion and diversification by acquiring US Cotton, LLC, the dominant supplier to almost every major US, Mexican, and Canadian retail chain of private label cotton based consumer products. These products include swabs, cotton balls, rounds and square pads. Today the parent company, Parkdale Inc., through its subsidiaries, processes 60% of the U.S. annual cotton consumption. It is one of the largest provider of spun yarns in the world, producing over 8,000 tons per week of products at 29 manufacturing plants in the US, Central America, Mexico, and South America. Our customer base in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres has positioned us to be one of the largest exporters of product out of the United States. The success of Parkdale to produce a product equal to, if not better than, any in the world has hinged on several factors: skilled leadership, constant pursuit of the most advanced technology in the world, the development of a highly skilled workforce, and most importantly, paying strict attention to the needs of our customers.