Andrew Major Elected by His Peers to Furniture Hall of Fame
January 17, 2003
This article was written based on letters of nomination from Tom Muzekari and Rob Culp.
High Point - Andrew Major was elected to the American Furniture Hall of Fame by his peers in October and was toasted for his numerous accomplishments by 450 friends and business associates at a dinner in his honor.
Major, former president of the Collins and Aikman Decorative Fabrics Group, presided over the world's leading fabric group consisting of Mastercraft Fabrics, C&A Home Fabrics, C&A Velvets, Mastercraft Contract, Doblin Fabrics, Greeff and Warner Fabrics. Since Major's retirement in 1994 after 48 years in the industry, this group of companies has found its way into the hands of other corporate owners. Major's retirement was short-lived; Cone mills asked him to start a new jacquard plant, which he did over a three-year period. He took Cone Decorative Jacquards into the furniture fabric industry and built a $60 million business in that time.
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he was a decorated combat veteran, Major joined Mastercraft Corporation in 1946. He became president in 1960 and assumed ownership in 1969. He is responsible for the company's meteoric rise, which today provides employment for 3,000 people and reports sales in excess of $350 million.
One of the first in the textile industry to recognize the necessity of continued modernization of facilities and equipment, Major understood that to be successful a company had to dominate its competition in the areas of product development, technology, innovation, styling and quality. In an industry that had very limited choices, the decorative fabrics group produced more than 2,000 fabrics annually.
With his entrance to the American Furniture Hall of Fame, Major is recognized as a preeminent textile pioneer. Under his leadership, Mastercraft and the C&A Decorative Fabrics Group held the largest installation of jacquard-design computers in the world. This technology sped jacquards from a small niche to its status as the largest segment of the market.
''I am excited about Andrew's nomination and election,'' said Tom Muzekari, vice president of marketing and sales for Quaker Fabrics Corp. and one of Major's many admirers. ''He ran the leading mill in the industry with Mastercraft for 35 years. He led the way for American mills to participate in the international market.''
Muzekari pointed out that Major is only the second textile industry member to be elected in 30 years to the Hall of Fame. The only other member from the industry was Bob Culp, founder of Culp Inc. Coincidentally, Major nominated Culp for that honor.
In his honor the Mastercraft plant was re-named the Andrew Major plant. Major is still active as a board member of Joan Fabrics Corp., part of the company that owns Mastercraft under Elkin McCallum, principal. (McCallum's personal plane and pilot flew Major and his wife Flora to High Point from New York to receive his Hall of Fame 'Effie' award.)
''Andrew was a colleague, competitor and friend of my father, and I know that dad thought very highly of Andrew and counted him as one of the most creative and entrepreneurial people ever to come into our industry,'' said Rob G. Culp III, chairman of Culp, Inc.
''During Andrew's time with the Mastercraft Group of Collins & Aikman, the company went from a small niche to the largest jacquard weaver in our market.''
Culp and Muzekari were instrumental in getting Major nominated for this award. In a letter Muzekari said that Mastercraft was $3 million in sales and Major built it to $350 million in sales by the time he retired.
''This significant growth and success was achieved by Andrew's obsession that product differentiation was everything. 'You are only as good as your last line,' he was fond of saying,'' Muzekari said. ''That's what drove Andrew Major.
Major was also the first to champion the Dornier loom and the first to use big name designers. He was the first to envision the attributes for design flexibility by using the Dornier loom when there were none in our industry. He brought jacquard designs to the forefront and led its domination of the market.
He was the first to overpower the market with product and additionally adjusted designs to satisfy any customer requests. He understood the importance of customer satisfaction and made every effort to accomplish every request. Customer specials were a rarity in the fabric business and Mastercraft turned them into an everyday occurrence. He was the first to place design above everything else. Understanding the importance of design, Andrew promoted name designers for signature collections - this was a first in textile industry.
''Andrew introduced the modern jacquard loom to our industry and with his innovation, product development, creativity, and styling, Andrew and his companies were the true fashion leaders of the industry,'' Culp said.
''These fabric designers were recognized as the best in the fabric industry under Andrew Major,'' said Muzekari, citing Wesley Mancini, who today is one of the most successful designers in the fabric industry worldwide, Bea Spires (formerly of Collins & Aikman velvets - now vice president of design for Quaker) and the late Carl Miller, who was the industry leader in printed warp and contemporary designs. Major, born in Hungary in 1921, spends his time in New York with his wife Flora and her long-haired miniature dachsund, Macko (a Hungarian name, pronounced ''Matzko''). F&FI
High Point - Andrew Major was elected to the American Furniture Hall of Fame by his peers in October and was toasted for his numerous accomplishments by 450 friends and business associates at a dinner in his honor.
Major, former president of the Collins and Aikman Decorative Fabrics Group, presided over the world's leading fabric group consisting of Mastercraft Fabrics, C&A Home Fabrics, C&A Velvets, Mastercraft Contract, Doblin Fabrics, Greeff and Warner Fabrics. Since Major's retirement in 1994 after 48 years in the industry, this group of companies has found its way into the hands of other corporate owners. Major's retirement was short-lived; Cone mills asked him to start a new jacquard plant, which he did over a three-year period. He took Cone Decorative Jacquards into the furniture fabric industry and built a $60 million business in that time.
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he was a decorated combat veteran, Major joined Mastercraft Corporation in 1946. He became president in 1960 and assumed ownership in 1969. He is responsible for the company's meteoric rise, which today provides employment for 3,000 people and reports sales in excess of $350 million.
One of the first in the textile industry to recognize the necessity of continued modernization of facilities and equipment, Major understood that to be successful a company had to dominate its competition in the areas of product development, technology, innovation, styling and quality. In an industry that had very limited choices, the decorative fabrics group produced more than 2,000 fabrics annually.
With his entrance to the American Furniture Hall of Fame, Major is recognized as a preeminent textile pioneer. Under his leadership, Mastercraft and the C&A Decorative Fabrics Group held the largest installation of jacquard-design computers in the world. This technology sped jacquards from a small niche to its status as the largest segment of the market.
''I am excited about Andrew's nomination and election,'' said Tom Muzekari, vice president of marketing and sales for Quaker Fabrics Corp. and one of Major's many admirers. ''He ran the leading mill in the industry with Mastercraft for 35 years. He led the way for American mills to participate in the international market.''
Muzekari pointed out that Major is only the second textile industry member to be elected in 30 years to the Hall of Fame. The only other member from the industry was Bob Culp, founder of Culp Inc. Coincidentally, Major nominated Culp for that honor.
In his honor the Mastercraft plant was re-named the Andrew Major plant. Major is still active as a board member of Joan Fabrics Corp., part of the company that owns Mastercraft under Elkin McCallum, principal. (McCallum's personal plane and pilot flew Major and his wife Flora to High Point from New York to receive his Hall of Fame 'Effie' award.)
''Andrew was a colleague, competitor and friend of my father, and I know that dad thought very highly of Andrew and counted him as one of the most creative and entrepreneurial people ever to come into our industry,'' said Rob G. Culp III, chairman of Culp, Inc.
''During Andrew's time with the Mastercraft Group of Collins & Aikman, the company went from a small niche to the largest jacquard weaver in our market.''
Culp and Muzekari were instrumental in getting Major nominated for this award. In a letter Muzekari said that Mastercraft was $3 million in sales and Major built it to $350 million in sales by the time he retired.
''This significant growth and success was achieved by Andrew's obsession that product differentiation was everything. 'You are only as good as your last line,' he was fond of saying,'' Muzekari said. ''That's what drove Andrew Major.
Major was also the first to champion the Dornier loom and the first to use big name designers. He was the first to envision the attributes for design flexibility by using the Dornier loom when there were none in our industry. He brought jacquard designs to the forefront and led its domination of the market.
He was the first to overpower the market with product and additionally adjusted designs to satisfy any customer requests. He understood the importance of customer satisfaction and made every effort to accomplish every request. Customer specials were a rarity in the fabric business and Mastercraft turned them into an everyday occurrence. He was the first to place design above everything else. Understanding the importance of design, Andrew promoted name designers for signature collections - this was a first in textile industry.
''Andrew introduced the modern jacquard loom to our industry and with his innovation, product development, creativity, and styling, Andrew and his companies were the true fashion leaders of the industry,'' Culp said.
''These fabric designers were recognized as the best in the fabric industry under Andrew Major,'' said Muzekari, citing Wesley Mancini, who today is one of the most successful designers in the fabric industry worldwide, Bea Spires (formerly of Collins & Aikman velvets - now vice president of design for Quaker) and the late Carl Miller, who was the industry leader in printed warp and contemporary designs. Major, born in Hungary in 1921, spends his time in New York with his wife Flora and her long-haired miniature dachsund, Macko (a Hungarian name, pronounced ''Matzko''). F&FI
