Pierre Zenie launched the Knitting Factory in 1992 to provide fabric to order for apparel giants including Jockey and Fruit of the Loom. It grew quickly from seventeen machines and twelve employees to seventy machines and sixty employees. Then one day, a light bulb arced and ignited lint in the air. “It was like fireballs falling from the ceiling,” said Pierre. No one was hurt, but business came to a grinding halt.
The insurance adjuster who inspected the plant said it was a total loss and would be completely covered by Pierre’s policy, but the company came back and offered only 20 percent of the cost to rebuild. Pierre’s response: “See you in court.” The legal battle lasted for a year and ended in a settlement. While he can’t disclose the terms, Pierre can say that the business reopened at full speed, and most of the laid‑off employees returned. Score one for small businesses!
That wasn’t the end of the story for the Knitting Factory though. Free trade agreements came to fruition beginning in 2003. Pierre watched as customers went one-by-one to Mexico, then South America, and finally to China. He shut down the factory in 2004.
However, while the factory’s legal battle was ongoing, Pierre had begun to research safety issues. He launched Metro Fire Lifesafety on the heels of the factory’s closure. It provides safety equipment, such as defibrillators and fire‑extinguishing grenades, as well as safety inspections. The company has also started offering CPR classes, which has become Pierre’s driving passion: “We’re teaching—empowering—others to save lives and providing them the tools to do it. That’s powerful.”
Melisa Graham is the communications director at SPARK Publications, editor of b2bTRIBE magazine, author of Used Cow for Sale (a collection of poetry, mom, and wife.
Leave a Reply