How this family-owned linen business kept their All-American promise during the pandemic.

During tough times, especially in business, faith is often the hardest thing to keep. It is always the most important, though. While most other businesses saw a decline in sales through the pandemic, family-owned American Blossom Linens thrived as their revenue increased by 400%.

Here is a little background on the nationwide bedding business:

Founder Janet Wischnia’s grandfather started their business in 1931, having only one retail store open in the heart of Philadelphia. Over the last 90 years, the business was altered and improved in several ways by Wischnia’s father, her two uncles, and several other members of the family and their wonderful associates. They left the retail business and grew their business by wholesaling textiles and bedding to the government, healthcare, and hospitality markets. Over time, they grew by selling more and more bedding and it became more cost-effective to begin to manufacture their own line. They operated several plants but kept outgrowing them. 

Thomaston Mills, a competitor that had been a well-run family business manufacturing since 1899 in the historic city of Thomaston, Georgia went bankrupt in 2001. This was mainly due to changed trade policies in the 1990’s and the movement of virtually all the textile manufacturing overseas mainly to China and India. In those countries, labor rates were lower and environmental and worker safety rules almost non-existent. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 1990 and 2016 there were a total of 516,000 jobs lost in the textile industry. After Thomaston Mills’ bankruptcy, Wischnia’s family bought several of their plants to continue building their bedding business and manufacturing in house, while providing jobs for American craftsmen and selling products made in the USA. 

Janet Wischnia turned 60 in 2019 and had been doing a lot of thinking about what direction she wanted to take with her work life. She had been the President of the company but wanted to take a step back and spend more time with her family. But Wischnia has a desire to keep growing her skills, which led her to decide to try something new that she thought would allow her to still learn but have more time to herself. 

With all the publicity about Made in America, the growing concern about sustainability, the environment, and the growth of the direct-to-consumer model, Wischnia thought she would try to take the company back to their retail roots and start an online business selling the bedding her factory made in the USA to consumers. Caring and being a responsible steward is a very important value that was emphasized in Wischnia’s family. Her mission was to create products that consumers could trust, that were Made in the USA, would be made to last, using only safe and sustainable manufacturing methods, and help to create jobs.

In early 2020 the Covid pandemic hit, but in a strange way – it was perfect timing for American Blossom Linens. Having had one year to learn how to sell online, learn Facebook, Google, and influencer marketing, Wischnia was in the right place to take advantage of the surge in demand for home goods, especially USA made home goods. The issues with obtaining personal protective equipment and masks at the outset of the pandemic and the realization by many more people about the dangers of over-reliance on China for certain crucial products sparked an increased interest in Made in USA sheets and bedding products. This was happening as the main market for family business, the hospitality market, declined due to quarantines and decreased travel. The 400% increase in sales that the American Blossom brand achieved came at just the right time and helped keep the work force busy. Of course, the factory made sure all their workers followed Covid guidelines and keeping them safe was of the utmost importance. Quick turn arounds, high-quality products, like their USA made sheets made from Western Texas organic cotton and a growing following of pleased customers are what helped get American Blossom through the pandemic while enabling them to keep their promise of manufacturing all their products here in the United States. The brand continues to grow and has added made in USA towels, blankets, and pillows to their line of Made in USA home goods. 

As a side note, Wischnia thought building a new online business would be less time consuming, but she was wrong. Although, she still makes lots of time for her family.