andrew major
Andrew Major (b.1931 d. 2004), former president of 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. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he was a decorated combat veteran, he joined Mastercraft Corporation in 1946, became president in 1960 and assumed ownership in 1969. He was responsible for the company's meteoric rise. A one point, Collins and Aikman provided employment for 3,000 with annual 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, Mr. Major recognized that for a company to be successful, it 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 over 2,000 fabrics annually.
Andrew Major was 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 moved jacquards from a small niche to the largest segment of the market. At his retirement in 1994, in recognition of his 48 years of service, the original Mastercraft plant was renamed The Andrew Major Plant. His retirement was short-lived. When asked by Cone Mills to start a new jacquard mill, Cone Jacquard sales reached $60 million in a three-year period.