THE HEART: TERRY WYLIE

Most of you who follow this blog (or our 21 years retrospective) know that when I returned to Alabama in 2000, I didn’t have a grand plan to build the company that is now Alabama Chanin. Any plans I may have had seemed to fall away into something far larger than I ever anticipated. It is easy to feel overwhelmed in such a position and I readily admit that, at times, I was incredibly overwhelmed. However, as the initial “project” morphed into a business, I learned how to run it on the fly—one day at a time. I have often said that I am not a quick learner, but I finally realized that my community has such a wealth of knowledge as to the workings of cotton AND manufacturing. These two things had been part of the vernacular of this community for a century. So while it took time for me to understand, I finally realized I just needed to “go to the well” to draw upon that information. Here in Florence, Alabama, that “well” was Terry Wylie.

I don’t actually remember the first time I officially met Terry. He was and is a leader in local business (along with his family), so I was always aware of his presence in the community. His family knew cotton manufacturing and worked in the industry for their entire careers. His grandmother worked her whole life for a single garment manufacturing mill running a flat lock machine every day until her retirement. His father started in the mills right out of high school. The Wylie family started Tee Jays Manufacturing Co.—a worldwide cotton production facility and once the third largest employer in the Shoals area—in 1976.

Our previous production manager, Steven, worked many years at Tee Jays. He held jobs in multiple areas throughout the business, from the sewing department (pictured in the photo at the top of this post), to supervising inspection, and the dye house (picture above). Steven saw that not only did the company employ an incredible number of people, but also an impressive number of FAMILIES. The Wylies paid a fair wage. They were loyal to their employees and their employees showed the same loyalty and respect in return. In a region where it seemed everyone has worked in cotton at one time or another, I’ve never spoken with anyone who had anything but the VERY BEST to say about Terry and his family. (See the photo below from a company picnic.)

My favorite Terry story comes from a production job gone wrong. He talks about printing on 1×1 Cotton Rib Knit and, he says to me laughingly, “You know how wrong that can go.” (It is very hard to print on a rib fabric and, yes, many things can go wrong.) One summer, they printed and shipped approximately 1,100 dozen of a particular shirt that didn’t make his customers happy. Upon receiving the returned shirts, he and his family (mother and father included) rented a U-Haul truck and RV, drove to Daytona Beach, Florida, and set up shop across from the racetrack one weekend.  At the end of the weekend, the shirts were gone and they returned home and to their business. This is the kind of man—and family member—Terry is: get the job done.

The first time I actually met him, I was in need of advice about my first company. In those first meetings with one another, he was so generous with his time and treated me and my employees as his equals. He was able to talk us through issues and helped to shine a flashlight into what was, for me, a very dark cave. His knowledge is wide-ranging, from the business aspects of manufacturing to the cotton itself. When we interviewed Terry for oral histories we are collecting about textile workers, he explained how he knew the right time to harvest cotton. “I’m a big football fan, and it seems to be that about the time it gets close to the Alabama-Tennessee football game that it’s time to pick cotton. You know, the cotton is white and it’s the third Saturday in October—and the fields… just get full and white and the bolls are open fully.”

While Tee Jays closed operations after the signing of NAFTA, luckily for us, Terry continues to work in our community and be a source of practical knowledge and an impartial ear when we need a good opinion, or just to laugh at ourselves. He still owns The Factory, where Alabama Chanin is now housed (coincidentally, the same sewing room where Steven worked all those years ago). Terry plays many roles at Alabama Chanin: a mentor, a guardian angel, and friend. Alabama Chanin would not be the company we are today without the support and kindness that Terry has shown us AND the work that he, his family, and all of the families in their business did before us. An invaluable asset to Alabama Chanin, our community, and to all that know him: Terry Wylie—a part of the heart and soul of Alabama Chanin.

All of the photos in this post courtesy of the Wylie family. Thank you.

16 comments on “THE HEART: TERRY WYLIE

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  1. Susan

    I loved this story. I had aunts and uncles that worked at the Dan River Plant in Danville, VA. Same story, different town. I hope that we are coming to our senses and looking to be more local. I tried to buy some clothing for my children in the big box stores, I found it was not the same quality as the items we got before all the mfg. got shipped to China. Jeans only lasted 6 weeks. We live on a farm, jeans need to last more than 6 weeks before the knees wear out. Where are the good ones? However, I did take those jeans my son wore out, patched them, got another month of wear out of them, and into the pile they went. I just made a pleated skirt out of those jeans for my daughter. They have box pleats with red felted wool for the pleats, and the jean fabric on the outside. She loves it. The other pair of jeans will be shorts for her after I hem them and doll them up a bit.

    In the meantime, I have to get back to Goodwill to buy me $3 jeans so I can spend my 6 weeks or so putting holes in the knees. Why buy new so that I can stain them cleaning out stalls and gardening?

    Susan

    Reply
    1. Mary Simmons

      Oh man. I love that article. We need to get back the community. We need pride in our work and ourselves,so much. Thank u for sharing this . I look forward to more. Bless you all this year!

      Reply
  2. Linda Selby

    You have a beautiful way of seeing the good in people. I guess the saying is true, “Every man you meet is a mirror.”

    Reply
    1. Diana Dees

      I love this story and I love that you posted it . I don’t know Terry Wylie and yet I do. I grew up in Alabama and Tennessee (and I now live in Tennessee again after spending many years in pursuit of a “career” in Dallas :)!) People like Terry Wylie are the people I’ve been privileged to know my entire life. He should be celebrated and I applaud you for doing so. Thank you.

      Reply
  3. EKL

    My parents were friends with the Wylie’s for many, many years. In fact, Terry was looking for a business partner to start selling “seconds” shirts he bought from the Acme Boot company back before he started Tee Jays. Of course my daddy was broke back then and furthermore thought Terry would lose everything he had selling irregular shirts.

    The rest, as they say, is history.

    Reply
    1. red

      What a wonderful story to land on today.
      MY mother- in- law was the accountant for Tee Jays. She was both old school and embraced the computer in the later years. She was the last one to go as she closed the books. She was sad to see it close.

      However , her daughter hired her on to run the register. That daughter owns Newburns . THe best dang, family run catfish resturant on the planet.
      You can see her there . She is a peach . A beautiful woman of wonderful southern grace and charm. Her accent is divine.

      thank you for the story .

      Reply
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  5. WRB

    Terry Wylie was the “Heart”, his Dad Paul Wylie was the “Soul” and Carolyn Morrison was perfect leader of the huge Sewing Department (well over 1,000 employees at peak) managing with her “Heart & Soul”.

    Reply
  6. carolyn Mauldin

    I worked there for 10 years and i told my husband that when our daughter graduated from high school that i was going 2 quit and so i did.I was off several years and got bored and went back 2 work in the packing department and worked for over 10 years there and loved every minute of it,I am 72 years old now but if it opened back up i would go back Loved the plant,the owners,and the people.

    Reply
    1. Alabama Chanin

      Carolyn,

      Thank you for sharing this and for contributing to the textile story of our community!

      Reply
  7. Ralph Rhodes

    I learned so much about the handling of daily problems from the Wylie family since the day of helping Terry and his partner Jim Morris and his father Paul place 7 old Merrow machines in the rear of their retail store in Petersville, Alabama. Enough learned to form a base of work ethic to now live comfortably on an island

    Reply
  8. Patricia Cunningham

    Terry Wylie what can I say about him Paul,Mary and Paula .I start working at TeeJay’s in 1977 .I was the first black to start working there.The Wylie’s and Carolyn took me in and the rest is history.We we’re at Railroad behind Hunt’s Appliance on Florence Blvd .Tee Jay’s was a great place to work we were family .Over the years as Tee Jay’s grew .We help each other’s in time of needs .If you was off work for a while we had your paycheck .St.Jude was our prize we raise money thru pledges and dinners.The Wylie’s would match what we raise.

    Reply