COATS PLC

'Coats plc' is the world's largest sewing thread and needlecraft supplies manufacturer, processor, and distributor, with 25,000 employees and plants in more than 65 countries while the company's products are sold in 150 countries.

Contents

History

Companies

Products

Brands

External Links

History

In 1755 James and Patrick Clark began a loom equipment and silk thread business in Paisley, Scotland. In 1806 Patrick Clark invented a way of twisting cotton threads together to substitute for silk threads which were unavailable due to France's blockade of Great Britain and opened the first plant for manufacturing the cotton thread in 1812. Several years later James Coats opened a cotton mill and his sons, James & Peter, took up the business under the name of J. & P. Coats. In 1864 the Clark family began manufacturing in Newark, New Jersey, U.S. In 1890 Coats listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 1952 J. & P. Coats and the Clark Thread Co. merged to become Coats & Clark Inc. in the United States. In 1960 a merger with Patons and Baldwins created Coats Patons. In 2003 the Guinness Peat Group plc took Coats Ltd private and it is now registered as "Coats plc".

Companies

Coats plc does business under different names in different countries but most variations include "Coats". For example, in the U.S., it does business as "Coats & Clark, Inc." (consumer) and "Coats American, Inc." (industrial). In the UK and Ireland, it does business as "Coats (UK) Ltd", in Canada as "Coats Canada Inc" (and has an industrial subsidiary "Coats Bell"), and as "Coats Australian Pty Ltd" in Australia. Coats in Egypt does business as "Coats Egypt".

Products

Coats makes and sells thread, yarn, filters, specialty textiles and related goods.

Brands

★ Dual Duty Plus®

★ Red Heart®

★ TLC®

★ Anchor®

★ J & P Coats®

★ South Maid®

★ Susan Bates®

★ Aunt Lydia®

★ Fiskars®

★ Velcro®

★ Milward®

★ Prym®

★ Sylko®

External Links

★ Coats official website

★ Coats plc official website

★ Coats & Clark Inc. official website

★ 2004 Annual Report (pdf)