Made in USA Spotlight
American Blossom Linens
"The best linens are made of pure, organic cotton grown in the United States. American Blossom Linens of Thomaston, Georgia, uses 100% USA Organic Cotton sourced from just 5 states: Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. With their 2-year Happiness Guarantee you can sleep on the sheets, wash them, live with them...and if you're not happy with them, you can return them for your money back, no questions asked, anytime during the 2 year trial period."
More Than Profits
One theme you’ll notice repeated across companies when you look for Made in the USA products is family values. Most American-made brands are still family owned and operated. These are businesses that grew to become part of their community. Employees live in the community. Family values get embedded into not only the culture of these companies, but also into the products they produce. It’s important for these brands to have trust, integrity and kindness in their culture — family virtues that can be embodied in one word, character.
A +120 Year Legacy
Textile industries across the United States have moved jobs overseas for cheap labor and raw materials. But in one little corner of Georgia, for 123 years, Thomaston Mills has refused to abandon their community or values and continues to make the right choice to keep the business local, source local and support local.
“In the 1990s, when trade regulations changed, many institutions moved their industry overseas. We’ve always been passionate about keeping the manufacturing in the United States and supporting our local community,” notes Janet Wischnia, one of the current owners.
Dark Days For The American Textile Industry
In the aftermath of opening trade with other countries, more than 650 American textile plants either shuttered their doors or were lured away overseas by foreign factories promising lower costs (often by cutting corners) and cheap labor (often from exploited workers). When you trim too close to the edges and lose the personal attachment a community has to its trademark products, quality suffers. Reputation suffers. And you lose a generation of talented craftsmen with a dedication and love for their work. American Blossom refused to go down that path.
The Birth Of A Brand
"In 2019, there [was] a lot of talk about Made in America,” explained Wischnia on the origins of the American Blossom brand. Thomaston Mills had been almost entirely a B2B business, selling bedsheets to hotels and hospitals. “But…I started to develop a retail sheet based upon the hotel sheet, for a new direct to consumer brand.”
“We had no idea how to run a retail business, but…we like to learn new things and grow. Our first challenge was building a Website,” related Wischnia with a bit of a grimace. “We failed in our first attempt…”
Pandemic Miracle
Not all new businesses are an instant success. “When I decided to start on 1/1/19, I thought we’d get a flood of orders,” said Wishnia.
While figuring out the new landscape of digital and social advertising, the pandemic happened, which to many companies, established and new, spelled doom.
“Much to my surprise, around April, we got a flood of orders," elaborated Wischnia. “Then we had the opposite challenge. We needed more product! ”
Obsessed With The Perfect Sheets
“We got lots of input from staff…shipping, sewing…we included everyone in getting the teams’ opinion on how to sustain quality and grow the brand into something that would make our American business-model and local community proud,” beams Wischnia.
“We wanted to make [our products] as sustainable as we can. Everything natural fibers. As long lasting as we can. A little heavier [percale breathable weave]. We made the sheets a little deeper. Made the flat sheet a little bigger. Really focused on the quality,” emphasized Wischnia.
Locally Sourced Organic Cotton
American Blossom teamed up with family businesses that raised organic cotton in the US. 98% of cotton farms in the Unites States are family operated. But only 11% of cotton produced is organic.
516,000 jobs had been lost in the American textile industry since 1990. By keeping their operation in the US, and by sourcing cotton from American farmers, American Blossom is helping to notch that grim ticker in the other direction.
Kindred Spirits
At Barnett Home Decor, our Americana Collection is our best selling collection: 100% Cotton dining chair pads, Made in USA with American-made fabrics and latex foam fill. So for our second profile in the Made in USA Spotlight series, we wanted to highlight a brand that sold the kind of products we knew our customers were looking for. When we discovered American Blossom Linens, another woman-led company, with a +100 year old history, it felt like we were looking in the mirror. There are only a handful of American manufacturers like us that have survived into the modern era, so we're keen to support this business, and we hope you will be too.
Two Year Trial Period
”When you invest in American Blossom, you are supporting sustainable agricultural practices, a reinvigoration of the once thriving [American] textile industry, local supply chains and your fellow American,” their website boasts.
Similar to the idea behind Barnett's "Try It Before You Buy It" program, American Blossom's 2 -Year Hapiness Guarantee is one of the most generous warranties we've ever seen. You can sleep on these sheets, wash them, sleep in late, and snuggle up on cold nights for up to two years. If you’re not happy with your bedding, you can return for your money back with no questions at any time during the two year “trial period”.
Pure Comfort and Pollution Control
Let’s look at this logically. If you source your bed linens, towels and pillowcases from overseas you’re adding to the problems of the planet. China is notorious for having little to no pollution controls. Their carbon footprint is more like a carbon hammer, almost double the CO2 impact of the United States. And, that’s the in-country number. Now add 8,000 + miles of travel to get to your door from the factory and that impact becomes a double whammy for global warming. If you live in California or any of the other states suffering from debilitating heatwaves and water shortages, this alone should be enough to make you want to support sustainable consumer buying practices.
When you purchase from a company like American Blossom whose sheets, pillows, towels and blankets are made from locally grown cotton, processed in the US and shipped from Georgia, you have a substantially lower environmental impact.
And you have that intangible of a company whose sole obsession of making the most comfortable and high-quality sheet in the world resonates in their work culture. They care about the products going out their door. The exploited workers overseas have no connection to the communities and people that use the products they produce, and they very likely don’t care.
Everyone along the production chain, from the cotton spinner to the sewing machine operators at American Blossom cares about the products, cares your comfort, and is proud of the long lasting nature of their bedding and the value for money that comes from an American Made Product.
“We even include a little gift in each package we send out. Sheets come with a locally made tea, Biron Teas; Towels include a locally made soap, Yellow Rose Farm Soap,” adds Wischnia. “We also never use plastic for shipping. Only recycled paper and boxes.”
For more information or to purchase American Blossom Linens, https://americanblossomlinens.com/pages/our-story
