Veteran Ginn exits shut-down startup

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 11/13/2002 2:34:00 PM

Dalton, GA — John Ginn, a long-time veteran of the blanket business, has left American Blanket Corp., the startup importer of high-pile blankets and throws he helped to found, after the company's Saudi Arabian parent decided to shut down the two-year-old company because of sluggish sales and a downturn in the U.S. economy.

American Blanket had imported and marketed a line of premium-quality, raschel-knit, high-pile acrylic blankets and throws. It shared offices and warehousing in Dalton, GA, with a sister company, United Weavers of America, which remains unaffected by the move.

Ginn told HTT: "The owners decided to shut down the company and focus on larger and more mature businesses under the corporate umbrella. It's disappointing, as we have worked very hard to carve out a piece of the luxury blanket and throw marketplace."

But hit by a downturn in the U.S. economy and overall sluggish retail sales, American Blanket failed to meet its sales targets and was shuttered, he said.