An Interpretation
History of GWG
by Catherine C. Cole
The Great Western Garment Company was founded in Edmonton, Alberta January 30, 1911 as manufacturers of high-grade overalls, shirts and pants for men and boys. Founders included Premier A. C. Rutherford, City Alderman and Co-owner of the Alberta Hotel Edmund Jackson, and C. A. Graham, a former buyer and salesman with the Revillon Dry Goods firm. While Rutherford's role was primarily that of investor, Jackson, company president and largest shareholder, led the firm from 1911-1920, when he was replaced by Graham who was president until his death in 1940. Their early vision and commitment to the development of the local community drove the growth of the company.
1911 was a boom year in Edmonton; real estate values were high and many new shops and industries, including meat packing and brewing, were established. The population of Edmonton more than doubled in just two years between 1911-1913 from 31,064 to 67,243. The company grew from eight to thirty seamstresses in its first year of operation. Challenges in establishing GWG were considerable, including: the downturn in Edmonton's economic fortunes in the mid-1910s; competition from established Eastern Canadian firms; distance from suppliers of raw materials and to markets for their finished goods; undeveloped transportation systems; high freight costs and unreliable delivery dates But GWG was able to establish a reputation for producing quality workwear and sales grew from $49,000 to $1.4 million in ten years.
GWG produced clothing for both the Canadian and British armies during World War I. Women were allowed to continue working after marriage as they were contributing to the war effort. Growth in wartime production let GWG to move to a large three-storey building at 10305 Namayo (now 97 th Street) in 1917. The company was established as one of Alberta's largest industries by this period.
Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, GWG participated in a number of "Buy-at-Home," "Buy Alberta-made Goods," and "Buy Union Label" campaigns.
Shopkeepers featured locally manufactured products in their window displays, and unionized workers promoted their products to other unions to reinforce the importance of the inter-dependence of primary and secondary manufacturing industries in Alberta. Product lines expanded during the 1920s to include mackinaws, boys' overalls, shirts and pants.
GWG diversified during the Depression. To maintain consistent supplies of raw materials, GWG established a subsidiary, Canadian Cottons Ltd., in Montreal, in 1932, and later cloth production companies in Cornwall and Hamilton.
GWG further expanded product lines in the 1930s, introducing a fine broadcloth, preshrunk, sunfast shirt, "The Graham Shirt," named for then president C.A. Graham, and ties. In 1934, GWG began the production of youthwear, and in 1936, women's workwear. GWG established a "prosperity program," pledging to keep employees working during the Depression. Labour and management cooperated on a drive through southern Alberta to promote the union label to coal miners, also unionized workers.
During World War II, staff grew to 600 as GWG increased its capacity in order to produce uniforms for the Canadian and Netherlands' armed forces; it also produced prisoner-of-war uniforms for the Japanese interned in southern Alberta.
GWG received nearly $4 million worth of government orders between 1940-45, with approximately 25,000 units of military clothing per week. GWG maintained production of civilian clothing, although there were occasional shortages of raw materials.
Clarence D. Jacox came from an American firm to join GWG in 1931 and instituted more efficient production methods, including refined assembly line techniques. Jacox served as president from 1941-1958. He led the company's production of during World War II, and oversaw its transition to the postwar economic and population boom.
GWG moved from its plant on 97 th Street to a modern, custom-built facility on 103 Avenue in 1954. By the late 1950s, GWG was producing a wide variety of garments for the entire family.
In 1961, Levi Strauss & Co. of San Francisco acquired a majority interest in GWG. In 1971, Levis became a publicly held company and in 1972, GWG became a wholly owned subsidiary; Levis management remained in the founder's family until the 1980s. GWG expanded into the production of a number of lines of casual clothes and slowly shed its image as a workwear company but maintained its reputation for high quality clothing.
The company continued to expand through the late 1960s-1970s, eventually reaching over 1,500 employees in three manufacturing facilities, a Distribution Centre, Cutting Centre, Finishing Centre, and District Sales Offices in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax. The jeans market grew throughout the 1970s but levelled off by the early 1980s and the company closed the Saskatoon and Winnipeg plants. The firm became known as Great Northern Apparel Inc. (Edmonton) in 1982, but still used the GWG brand for marketing purposes; in 1988 it became Levi Strauss & Co. (Canada) Inc.
Levis decision to close the Edmonton plant in March 2004 and move production of Levis and Dockers pants offshore to Haiti resulted in the loss of 488 jobs in the city.