February 2004

La France Industries Partners with The Mischen Glabman Group

Mount Vernon Mills, Inc., La France Division, historically a premier producer of upholstery fabrics, announces a strategic alliance with The Mischen Glabman Group, Inc., a new company formed by long time industry executives Steve Mischen and Thom Glabman. Paulina Muzekari was named Design Director for the Glabman Group. According to Charles L. Little, President of La France Industries, "Steve, Thom and Paulina's expertise in this market is an integral part of our re-entry into the residential upholstery market."

Steve Mischen said, "Given our group's market knowledge, customer focus and design skills combined with La France's state of the art manufacturing and Mount Vernon's strong financial strength, we are confident that we can deliver a wide variety of top quality fabrics." Thom Glabman added, "The timing was right, and we created our group to form this alliance. In La France and Mount Vernon, we saw a fantastic opportunity with the raw potential and financial resources, to restore La France to its historic image and beyond."

La France Industries, founded in 1822, is one of six divisions of Mount Vernon Mills, Inc. Privately owned, with headquarters in Greenville, SC, Mount Vernon's other divisions are Apparel Fabrics, Consumer Products, Greige Fabrics, Brentex, Transportation and Chemicals. Sixteen plants are located in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas employing over 5,000.