Once upon a time, the United States had a thriving textile and apparel manufacturing industry, and North Carolina was one of its hubs. As the manufacturing—ranging from spinning the yarn, knitting or weaving the fabric, and manufacturing textile-based products—moved offshore, there were many abandoned textile mills left behind. Some have been bulldozed; some have been converted to offices, condos, museums, and other uses. And it is not common for them to revert to a textile business. We were excited to learn about Deanna Hodges’ efforts to do just that with an abandoned mill in Lincolnton, N.C. Here’s her story! This is the first of what I hope will be a series, digging deeper into the resurgence of cut-and-sew in the US.

WhatTheyThink:  Deanna, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Based on your LinkedIn profile, you have quite a bit going on, including Hodges International and Sparty Mill. You’ve also authored a few books. Let’s start with your background.

Deanna Hodges:  I’ve been in the textile industry in one capacity or another for longer than I care to admit—since I was 17 years old, actually. And I’ve done about every job. I started my own brand in 2005 and did manufacturing in Southern California. I’ve also manufactured in Mexico, Turkey, and Peru. When COVID hit, all of a sudden, I couldn’t get my hands on my products’ ad samples that were being manufactured overseas. I needed them for meetings with clients and potential clients. In fact, I had a meeting with one of the big box stores scheduled, and I had to use samples from previous seasons. Not ideal.