Rhode Island Textile Co. opened its doors in 1913 during a time when Pawtucket
was alive with textile companies. The company manufactured braided elastic and long
laces for women's corsets.
In the years since its founding, the company's product line has expanded into a full
spectrum of narrow fabric materials, ranging from shoe laces to elastics of all kinds.
Today, the company is one of the country's largest suppliers of narrow fabric items,
operating three plants in Pawtucket and others in South Carolina and Mexico. It employees
about 300 people at its Pawtucket plants.
Over the past seven years, Rhode Island Textile has seen stable growth, and sales have
increased by 77 percent since 1989. The company has made a point of reacting to the needs
of the marketplace, diversifying its product line and upgrading machinery continually.
Today, it is one of the only textile companies that makes all three types of narrow fabric
-- knitted, woven, and braided. It supplies elastic waistband materials for undergarments
manufactured by some of the biggest names in the market. Its prepackaged shoe laces and
elastics for home sewing are marketed through the country's largest department stores.
In 1943, wartime shortages and a decline in the sale of corsets were taking a heavy toll
on Rhode Island Textile's business. Glendon M. Elliot took over as head of the company and
set about transforming it by manufacturing shoelaces, which were much more in demand than
corset laces.
While remaking the company, Elliot also understood the importance of his employees. He
learned the names of all the people who worked for him and started a company slogan,
"a friendly place to work." Currently, there are a large number of employees
with 10 or more years with the company. Retirees with 40 or more years of service are not
unusual.
Change has become an accepted way of life at Rhode Island Textile Co., which has proven
that companies that reinvest earnings and change with the times can survive and even
prosper in the high-tech world markets of today. Many of the company's products weren't
even thought of 10 or 20 years ago.
"The company is optimistic about its chances and expects to continue changing and
growing with new opportunities in the years to come," says Jack Elliot, son of
Glendon M. Elliot and the company's current president.