Our Story
THE COLORFUL HISTORY OF
SPRINGS CREATIVE
1887
Springs Cotton Mills
Springs Cotton Mills was founded by Leroy Springs and Samuel Elliott White in Lancaster, South Carolina.
1970
Retail and Specialty Fabric Division Founded
Springs Industries established the Retail and Specialty Fabrics Division to oversee the production of high-quality apparel and finished fabrics.
2001
Creative Products Group
Under the leadership of Derick Close, whose family founded Springs, the Retail and Specialty Fabrics Division was renamed the Creative Products Group.
2007
Springs Creative Products Group, LLC
Recognizing the Creative Products Group’s potential for growth and proven ability to operate independent of the corporate structure, Derick Close purchased the division in March 2007.
2013
Investing in digital printing
Springs Creative invested in the company’s first domestic digital textile printing resources. The result was dramatically increased speed to market capabilities.
2016
Forging Solutions
Springs Creative built a unique framework of creative and logistical divisions to support the company’s digital printing efforts. Springs Creative began to commercialize these critical assets to connect with new customers and sales channels.
History of Springs Cotton Mills
The son of Colonel Leroy Springs, a textile manufacturer, Colonel Elliott White Springs took over Springs Cotton Mills in 1931 when America was in the depths of the Great Depression, and 10 years later had made it one of the textile industry’s major success stories.
In the history of advertising, Elliott White Springs’ provocative advertising campaigns were known for challenging the conventions of the time. His strategy to combine humor with sexually and socially charged imagery had not been seen before in mainstream advertising.
The Springs’ ad campaigns established the iconic beauty “Miss Springmaid.” She was “country fresh” and would remain constant, regardless of whether the advertisement appeared in company bulletins, business and trade publications or national magazines such as Forbes, or Life. The logo depicted a milkmaid in the foreground of a landscape filled with a windmill, trees and a waterfall.
With his past literary career and creative mind, Springs was able to be bold and innovative. He had expanded the business until it was the third largest textile producer in the country. Springs achieved the brand recognition he had been searching for as Springmaid became a household name.
Samuel Elliot White
Samuel Elliot White founded the Fort Mill Manufacturing Company in 1887 in South Carolina. Over the years, the company has evolved, including the combination of five South Carolina cotton mills into one company the Springs Cotton Mill, run by his son Elliot White Springs in 1933. By 1959, Springs Cotton Mill was the largest manufacturer of sheets and pillowcases in the world, producing more than 20,000 sheets per week under iconic brands such as Springmaid and Wamsutta.
Elliot White Springs
South Carolina businessman and an American flying ace. A daring aviator, he was the fifth-ranking U.S. Pilot of World War I. After his father’s death during the Depression, Springs was forced to take command of the Springs family cotton mills. He was the mastermind behind the Risqué Springmaid sheet ads. He forever changed the American advertising with his famous series of ads that he wrote and designed himself.
2020
WHAT’S NEXT. NOW?
Now, Inspiring Place
Who We Are
We are one company; built upon five unique Divisions that service myriad sales channels, textile, and design markets while serving as the established pillars of our organization.
Our Mission
To deliver inspiration and services to people while facilitating the development of products creating Inspiring Place.
Our Unique Value Propositions
Each color in the Springs Creative logo is symbolic of one of the Unique Value Propositions which, as a whole, make up the cornerstones and positioning of the Springs Creative brand.
Art + History
Creativity + Innovation
Responsiveness
Accessibility
Quality of Service
