By Jeff Glassman • Darn It! • Founded 1996 • New Bedford, Massachusetts
Thirty years ago, I chuckled at a customer’s quality problem and accidentally started a company.
It was early 1995. NAFTA had just torn open the American apparel industry, and nobody in New Bedford, Massachusetts felt it more than the 140 clothing manufacturers who called our city home — including my dad’s factory, and everything I thought my future would look like. This is my story, and how I got to where I am 30 years later with my company Darn It!
After spending four and a half years post-college in different retail roles, I decided to join my dad’s clothing manufacturing company, Ronnie Manufacturing, in 1994. He had been working so hard to grow his business for over 35 years, and now he wanted me to come in and help him develop new business and bring some fresh ideas to the table. We had over 350 employees at Ronnie Mfg., most of which were sewing operators. There were thousands of sewing operators in the city at the time. It was such a thriving industry. Then things changed forever.
Customers of ours were starting to test other manufacturing facilities in Mexico, taking some of our work and having it made there. We started seeing a decrease in production in our factory and had to start laying off employees for the first time. We even started selling some of our equipment to factories that were growing in Canada. It was a strange feeling not hearing that constant buzz of sewing machines from 7am – 3:30pm anymore. The sound was softer. Less production equaled less employees and less sewing machines.
We were still producing for many months and still making a profit, but I saw the writing on the wall. We were paying around $7.50–$12.00 per hour on a piecework incentive system and now competing with $.40–$.50 per hour in Mexico. Quite a difference. I decided that this wasn’t for me anymore and started interviewing. I got a job offer from a financial firm in downtown Boston. I was going to be a financial advisor and start working with a strong team in the industry. I gave my dad 60 days’ notice, figuring I needed to stick around to help him through whatever was to come next.
Then, one of our customers — someone we had been working with for over 20 years — came to see me in the manufacturing plant. He said that he had a problem. He had manufactured some pants in Mexico, and they were back here in Massachusetts, and he wanted me to fix them. We had been producing the same pants in our facility for many years with no quality problems. Now his first run in Mexico had side seams that weren’t stitched properly, labels that were not straight and sewn correctly, and oil stains from some of the older machines at the factory he was working with.
My initial reaction — which he didn’t really appreciate — was to sort of chuckle. This had never happened in our facility. But then again, he was probably getting them made for a fraction of the price. I looked at him and explained that I was leaving the business and that I was going to help my dad in any way I could before I left. He looked at me and said: “I need you to help me get these garments into first quality so I can get them back to the large retailer before they cancel the shipment.”
He mentioned that he’d been sending these types of issues to other parts of the country to get them taken care of, but since we were in his backyard, it would be great if we could help. Little did I know that while I was talking to him, 40,000 pants on a truck were being backed up to my loading dock. He wanted us to unload the pants, fix what we could, and load only the first-quality units back onto the truck when we were done. We unloaded the truck, performed all of the inspection and repair processes, billed the customer, and continued my quest to help my dad figure out his next move.
The very next week that same customer came back — this time with two more problems. He looked at me and said: “Jeff, you may want to start thinking about a service business that can perform these tasks — not just for me, but for many other manufacturers and retailers across the country.” I was 24 years old at the time and wasn’t sure about taking a big risk. But being an entrepreneur at heart and having started other businesses while I was in high school and college, I thought — let’s investigate this.
I knew that there were other manufacturers and retailers in our general area, so I thought that if I came up with a name and started sending some mailings out — maybe while I was still helping my dad — I could figure out what I wanted to do. In 1995 and 1996 we didn’t have the luxury of the Internet, we didn’t have the luxury of email, and searching for anything on a computer wasn’t an option. So, I did it the old-fashioned way and grabbed the phone book.
My mom came up with the name: Darn It! And I started sending out brochures in the mail. Wouldn’t you know — within two weeks I started getting a phone call or two from retailers asking where we had been all these years. I explained my story and they started sending me their projects. Those projects could have been as simple as a visual inspection or a re-ticketing job, all the way up to steaming, pressing, and cleaning. I started using a corner of my dad’s factory space and about six of his employees and found myself in the throes of a new business.
I called the financial investment firm the next day and declined the offer. I went all in on my new venture — Darn It!
I incorporated the business in 1996 and started sending out mailers and posting ads in the appropriate industry publications. To my surprise, the phones started ringing. Many retailers, manufacturers, and importers were just starting to test the waters down south and overseas and getting the product back here in the States. They could not get some of their product out to their customers right away because of the quality issues that were popping up. They had a few options. One was to pack everything up and send it back to the factory it was made in — which can certainly take a lot of time and cost a lot of money. Or they could find a solution here in the US to get the product fixed quickly and get it back onto the shelves. This is when Darn It! became valuable to many here in the States.
After running the factory a little longer and seeing the potential of my new venture, my dad and I got together and decided it was time to shut down his factory operation. It was not easy. He had taken over his father’s factory in 1968, and I had hoped to take my dad’s factory over when I joined him in the early ‘90s. After helping my dad shut down his operation, he came to work for me and helped me build Darn It! as a service business. I was using some of his rented space, some of his machinery, and of course some of his dedicated sewing operators and inspectors.
It was a slow start — as it always is when starting a new business. Not sure where your next project will come from. Not sure if you are truly providing a service that everyone will want or need. Staffing became an issue in the beginning as projects were not very steady. It took many years to really build the framework for a full-service refurbishment and rework facility. The good news is that word spread quickly that Darn It! had the skilled labor to manage many different types of apparel, shoe, and accessory projects. Customers liked the fact that we were able to shift gears at a moment’s notice — inspecting shirts for staining as well as changing labels on a pant the same day. We grew in staffing and management over the years to provide proper communication throughout each project.
Fast-forwarding 30 years: I now own a 300,000 square foot mill building that houses the company. We still perform all of the tasks we started doing in 1996, including apparel inspection and repair, with over 60 dedicated team members — and we are still working with some of the people who started with us at the very beginning.
Over time we added a full fulfillment operation under the same roof, so today we can take a customer’s product from initial inbound quality inspection all the way to their customer’s doorstep.
As I look back, it’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since we fixed that first project. I remember it so vividly. I’m certainly not sure what would have happened if I hadn’t shifted gears while I watched those 140 clothing manufacturers in our city start to close.
None of this would be possible without the dedicated workforce that has been with me over these years. Many of our customers have asked us to move closer to their businesses or start another operation in other parts of the country. Every time I look into it, I come to the same conclusion: this is not possible without our dedicated team at our main location. You can’t replicate what we have here. This team is the company.
Thirty years. One first project. A mom with a great idea for a name. A dad who built something so I’d have something to build from. And a team that shows up every day and makes it all possible. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a quality crisis, you already know why this work matters. If you haven’t worked with us yet, we’d love to earn that chance. Here’s to what’s next — and thank you for being part of the story.
“Your Problem Is Our Business”
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