Dan River: known for quality, value and service for over 120 years

It all began in 1882 in Danville, Virginia, then a town of some 7,500 inhabitants settled along the banks of the Dan River, and on the hills above the river. An unlikely group of six men banded together to organize a cotton mill. Among them were a building contractor, a lumber dealer, a physician and three merchants who were brothers. They pooled their knowledge and found that none of them knew anything about textile manufacturing. On July 27, 1882, they were granted a charter for the company they called The Riverside Cotton Mill. This infant company produced its first yarn and fabric in April 1883.

Two new mills were built by 1888. The Morotock Mill, a manufacturer of sheeting in Danville, was acquired in 1890. Four additional mills were build between 1893 and 1898.

The early decades of the twentieth century saw continued expansion. In 1909 the company made its first expansion move when it merged with Dan River Power and Manufacturing Company to form the Riverside and Dan River Cotton Mills, Inc.

All this came to a halt in the 1930s with the Great Depression.

World War II changed everything, though, as the mills operated full time to produce fabrics for both military and civilian needs. Expansion and diversification continued in the 1950s and 1960s with the acquisition or building of over a dozen companies and new mills.

In 1964 this name was changed to Dan River Mills, Inc. In 1970 the name was further abbreviated to its present Dan River Inc. The high interest rates of the 1970s, coupled with the need to purchase new generation textile equipment brought an end to the rapid acquisition seen just years earlier. Operations which were marginal were sold or closed.

Led by Chairman & CEO Joe Lanier, Jr., Dan River began a transition from being primarily an apparel fabrics manufacturer to being primarily a home fashions manufacturer and marketer in the late 1980s.

Another round of acquisitions took place as the twentieth century ended. In 1997 Dan River acquired the assets of The New Cherokee Corporation, with manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Tennessee. By combining the operations, Dan River became the leading producer of light-weight yarn-dyed woven fabrics in the Western Hemisphere. In 1998 Dan River further expanded its operations by assuming operational control of The Bibb® Company and by purchasing substantially all of the assets of Home Innovations, Inc's Glenn Manufacturing facility in Morven, North Carolina. In 2000 Dan River announced further expansion of its textile production in the acquisition of Import Specialist, Inc.'s Portsmouth, VA facility.

The last ten years have seen a fundamental shift in how the home fashions textile business in the United Stated functions. The availability of increasing quantities of high quality products from lower cost suppliers outside the United States has resulted in the closing of many factories in the United States. Dan River has not been immune to this transition from manufacturer to sourcer.

Throughout this transition, Dan River has maintained its focus on the corporate values which have endured since 1882 and which are part of our heritage: we will provide our customers with high quality, attractively priced, fashionably designed products backed by dedicated customer service and delivered on time, every time.

The Company’s ability to excel in a very competitive industry was greatly enhanced in late 2005 with its purchase by GHCL Ltd., an India based company which already had interests in the textile business. The combination of GHCL’s ability to provide high quality products at competitive prices and Dan River’s recognized brand names and established channels of distribution is providing opportunities for Dan River Global to become a well known and highly respected member of the global business community in a world which is getting smaller every day.