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GWG Reading

Edmonton's Great Western Garment Company was established in 1911 and grew to become one of Alberta's largest industrial enterprises, employing up to 1600 workers. In 1961, Levi Strauss and Co. bought 75% of the company. Over the following decades, Levi's integrated GWG's plants and gradually reduced its Edmonton workforce. When the Edmonton plant closed in 2004, 488 workers lost their jobs, significantly impacting the city. Throughout its history, GWG was innovative in management practices and product development.

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134 views

GWG Reading

Edmonton's Great Western Garment Company was established in 1911 and grew to become one of Alberta's largest industrial enterprises, employing up to 1600 workers. In 1961, Levi Strauss and Co. bought 75% of the company. Over the following decades, Levi's integrated GWG's plants and gradually reduced its Edmonton workforce. When the Edmonton plant closed in 2004, 488 workers lost their jobs, significantly impacting the city. Throughout its history, GWG was innovative in management practices and product development.

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© © All Rights Reserved
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PART 1

Edmonton's Great Western Garment Company


by Catherine C. Cole

Beginnings
1911 was a boom year for Edmonton. Real estate values were high and
many new shops, businesses and houses were built. Alberta's first Premier,
Alexander C. Rutherford, City Councillor and owner of the Alberta Hotel,
Alfred E. Jackson, and Charles A. Graham, a former buyer and salesman
with Revillon Dry Goods, established the Great Western Garment Company
(GWG) on January 30, 1911, with a strong belief in the future of the young
city. They also recognized the need for a supply of functional, hard-wearing
clothing for the province's growing workforce.

   

The company's seven employees formed Local 120 United Garment


Workers of America (UGWA) a few months later. The company quickly
became a significant employer of women. There were few jobs available to
women at the time; many employers would not retain married women, and
single women had few legitimate employment opportunities.

Great Western Garment grew quickly, to more than 100 workers in its first
year of operation. In 1914, the plant moved to 10438 Namayo Street (97th
Street), Edmonton, to accommodate its growing workforce of 150
operators. 

Early Expansion
From 1917 to 1953, the factory was located at the corner of 97th Street
and 103rd Avenue. Originally constructed as a department store in 1911,
the building was converted for use as a factory. By 1919, GWG employed
375 workers. Investors provided the capital necessary to build a two-storey
addition to the north side of the factory in 1925, and a fourth storey
addition with a metal mansard roof to the main building in 1927. Sales
throughout western Canada grew to $1.4 million.

     

The Great Depression


Much of GWG's success can be attributed to Clarence D. Jacox, general
manager from 1931 to 1941 and president from 1941 to 1958. Jacox
instituted the line system and piecework incentives. The company survived
the Depression through diversification, receiving City contracts to
manufacture uniforms for city workers and clothing for people on relief. At
the time, GWG produced more than 700 individual lines of garments,
including women's wear and youth wear.

By 1935, GWG was optimistic that the worst of the Depression was over
and introduced a prosperity program, increasing the number of workers
from 250 to 300. After years of layoffs during slow periods, GWG
celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1936 by committing to full-time
employment for its staff.

  
PART 2

World War II

With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, two-thirds of the plant's


production was dedicated to government contracts. C.D. Jacox became
president following C.A. Graham's death in December 1940, and ownership
of the company was consolidated in the Graham and Jacox families. In
1941, the accumulated value of GWG's government contracts reached $1
million. The workforce grew to 500 people, manufacturing 12,500 uniforms
per week, almost as many garments as it produced each year 15 years
earlier. In 1942, a $125,000 two-storey addition was built to the east of
the plant.

Postwar

In the early 1950s, GWG began to look for a new location near the 97th
Street plant to accommodate operators who were juggling work and
domestic duties. On December 18, 1953 the firm celebrated the completion
of a new factory—a one-storey, 100,000-sq. ft. plant with a 70,000-sq. ft.
sewing room—situated just a few blocks away. The reinforced concrete and
masonry structure, designed by architect Ralph Brownlee, was arguably the
largest garment factory on the continent. The number of employees
increased from 500 to 750.

In 1957, GWG built a 125,000 sq. ft. addition to the new factory, further
expanding its workforce. In 1958, C.D. Jacox died and was succeeded by J.
Gerald Godsoe of Toronto. Jacox's death precipitated not only a change in
management but, within a few years, a change in ownership.

The company began to produce casual clothing for the entire family, and its
marketing and distribution network spread across the country; by 1961,
5,500 merchants carried GWG products. To reflect an interest in expanding
their market to all Canadians, in 1965 GWG changed the name of Cowboy
Kings to GWG Kings. Also that year, GWG updated its corporate identity,
introducing a new streamlined logo with two straight lines, rather than
wings, over the initials. To counter restrictions against wearing blue jeans
to school, GWG introduced coloured denim pants.

Speed-up
Beginning in the 1940s, GWG used efficiency engineers to 'speed-up' the
manufacturing process. Under Jacox, GWG had become one of the most
highly engineered companies in the world, adopting new machinery and
processes as soon as it could.

By the 1960s GWG had full-time engineers who timed the operators and
showed them how to expend less energy working in a circular motion, how
to pick the pieces up, which fingers to use, and how to feed fabric into the
machine. Where possible, operations were fully automated and the
operators simply placed the fabric pieces in the correct position. By the
time the plant closed in 2004, the amount of time it took to manufacture a
pair of jeans was reduced to seven and a half minutes.
PART 3
Levi's Ownership
Levi Strauss and Co. bought 75% of GWG in 1961. New owners Peter and
Walter Haas joined the board, but GWG retained independent management
until after the company's 75th anniversary in 1986. It was one of Alberta's
largest industrial enterprises, with 950 operators working day and night
shifts, increasing production capacity by ten percent. Production jumped
from 8,000 units a day in 1958 to 13,000 five years later.

GWG became the first company to partner with the provincial government
and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) to train
unemployed and underemployed people in 1965. Trainees were paid
minimum wage, half of which came from the government.

Integration of GWG Plants within Levi Strauss


In 1971, the Great Western Garment Company changed its name to GWG
Limited. The following year, Levi Strauss bought the remaining shares of
GWG Limited.

In 1973, GWG established a cutting centre and storage facility, and a two-
storey, 106,000 square warehouse in the Strathcona Industrial Park. GWG
continued its efforts to modernize the company's image by introducing a
new logo, with stylized "GWG" letters in a broken circle, and by running the
first national television campaign for jeans.

In 1982, Great Northern Apparel Inc. (GNA) was established as a holding


company for GWG Inc. and Levi Strauss and Co. (Canada) Inc. Fifty
Edmonton-based office workers were laid off as GWG began to transfer
management to Toronto. In 1984, 85 people were laid off at the Edmonton
plant, and finishing for all clothing manufactured at Levi Strauss and GWG
plants in Edmonton, Stoney Creek, and Cornwall was consolidated in
Brantford. Some of the finishing workers from Edmonton chose to re-
locate, along with the work, to Brantford.

Levi Strauss Management


By 1984, GWG's workforce in Edmonton had declined from 1600 at its peak
to 600 employees. The GWG name continued to be used until after the
company's 75th anniversary in 1986 when it introduced the marketing
campaign "History in the Making," capitalizing on GWG's long history. Levi
Strauss showed little interest in the GWG brand and, from 1998 to 2001,
licensed it to Montreal manufacturer Jack Spratt. Levi Strauss also
introduced a new logo that featured the name "Great Western Garment
Company" in a circle with the letters "GWG" in the centre.

Levi Strauss considered shutting down the Edmonton plant in 1999, when it
closed 11 plants in North America, but in the end the plant was spared.
Workers would remain anxious for their jobs when later that year 77
workers were laid off at the Edmonton plant, shifting production to Mexico.

Closure
When the Edmonton plant finally closed in March 2004 and 488 workers lost
their jobs, Levi Strauss announced a severance package, career counselling,
and retraining, as well as donations to local charities. Working with Economic
Development Edmonton, they initiated the "Levi's 488 Project" to help
workers find new jobs. Unfortunately, many workers did not have the
English language skills necessary to qualify for other jobs with comparable
salary and benefits. Four months after the plant closed, only 105 former
employees had found new jobs; 51 were retired, 137 were enrolled in
retraining programs, 66 were actively looking for work, and 129 were still
thinking about what to do next.

Conclusion
The closure of GWG was a significant loss to the city of Edmonton.
Throughout its history, GWG was a very innovative company. In terms of
management for example, before 1917, Local 120 was reputed to be the
first garment manufacturing union in North America to gain the 8-hour day
and 40-hour week; in the 1960s, GWG developed a unique inventory
control system, working closely with retailers; and in 1965, GWG was the
first Alberta company to partner with the government to provide training.

In terms of products, in the 1920s GWG was the first company in Canada
to use pre-shrunk denim; in 1965 GWG introduced Nev'R Press, the first
permanent press pants in Canada; and in 1972 Scrubbies, the original pre-
washed jeans, were invented in Edmonton by then Vice-President of
Merchandizing Don Freeland.

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