Wigwam Mills Inc., the family-owned maker made-in-the-USA socks since 1905, has reopened its factory as Wisconsin’s stay-at-home restrictions have been eased by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. In addition, the Wigwam Board of Directors announced that leadership of the 115-year old brand has shifted to the fourth-generation siblings Chris Chesebro and Margaret Newhard. Both Chesebro and Newhard have been working at Wigwam for more than a decade, Chesebro overseeing operations and Newhard leading product development. With this transition, they will take joint control as general managers of operations and administration, respectively, and lead the brand.
“Although it is an interesting time to step up, Chris and I are really excited to lead Wigwam and be working together to propel Wigwam forward for generations to come. Our family members preceding us have all been leaders in innovation and we will continue to do the same,” said Newhard. “As we all move through these very challenging times created by the Coronavirus, Wigwam Mills is taking hard, but necessary, steps to safeguard the future of our iconic brand. We are working with each of our customers to create a very focused program in the short-term while reconfirming their needs that will promote growth in the future.”
By mandate of the state of Wisconsin, Wigwam temporarily paused its manufacturing on March 25. As of April 2, Wigwam reinstated a focused team that reignited activity in operations and then a subsequent ramp up in production on May 1. “Our priority is to get more of the Sheboygan based employees back to work safely, get our core sock styles back in production and continue to ship to our retail partners,” said the company.
