QUILT HISTORY STORIES
ELGIN, ILLINOIS
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
LeeWard Mills and Lee Wards Story
Book 7
Susan Wildemuth, Atkinson, IL
History of LeeWard Mills and LeeWards
Munford, Inc. Years (1985-1988)
John Popple, a Northwestern University graduate with Masters in Management, joined the LeeWards family as assistant store manager at the St. Petersburg, Florida store in January 1973. (114) He worked his way up through the ranks of the LeeWards Division during the General Mills, Inc. years, holding positions in the areas of store management, merchandising, marketing, and eventually becoming president of the company in April 1985 around the time of the Munford buyout. (115)
Special Note:
Author would love to have a photo/scan of John Popple to go with this article
There was serious talk by General Mills, Inc. of selling the LeeWards division in early 1985. (116) Hearing of the potential sale, LeeWards employees and investors were interested in purchasing the company, but that was not to be at this point in time. (117) A July 29, 1985 article in The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution broke the news. “Munford, Inc. has agreed to purchase a chain of 46 craft stores from General Mills, Inc. for $21 million. The two companies have signed a letter of intent for Munford to purchase LeeWards Creative Crafts, Inc. with the transaction expected to be completed by August 31, 1985. Included in the $21 million dollar deal will be the 240,000 square foot office and distribution center at Leewards Headquarters in Elgin, Illinois.” (118)
Munford, Inc. had entered the craft retailing arena when it opened its first Craft Bazaar store in Atlanta in late 1984. The company had been looking for expansion possibilities to develop a national retail craft organization. (119) Published accounts at the time reported that “This acquisition firmly establishes Munford as a national leader in the craft retailing business.” (120) There was talk at the time of abandoning the LeeWards name for Craft Bazaar, but they retained a portion of the prestigious name and for a time called themselves LeeWards Craft Bazaar. (121)
At this time LeeWards was one of the country’s largest chain of craft stores, with revenues for the fiscal year ending May 1985 in excess of $61 million. (122) LeeWards employed about 1072 and would be operated as a separate division of Munford, Inc. A newspaper article confirmed, “With the purchase of LeeWards, the Atlanta, Georgia based company acquired an additional 46 stores expanding Munford’s newly-created specialty division of Craft Bazaar Stores to 48 stores.” (123) Under Munford management, LeeWards expanded from 46 stores to 60 between 1985 to 1988 and employed about 1700 people in approximately 29 cities, which included the original store at 840 N. State Street in Elgin, Illinois. (124)
LeeWards remained a part of Munford Inc. until around 1988, when the company was purchased by an Elgin-based management team and outside investors. (125)
