In focus: Wisconsin Knitwear Inc.

Inside an previous manufacturing facility constructing on Milwaukee’s south aspect, the hum of dozens of mid-century industrial knitting machines is a continuing sound – prefer it has been for many years. Wisconsin Knitwear Inc. has produced customized knit hats, scarves and headwear out of the four-story, 30,000-square-foot facility at 1111 W. Lincoln Ave. since 1998, however the Milwaukee-based firm has been in enterprise for the previous 43 years. Immediately, its merchandise are shipped all over the world, largely to shoppers on the East Coast and Midwest, and have been worn as spiritwear for colleges and sports activities groups; promotional merchandise for companies and bands, together with large names like Dave Matthews Band, Wilco, The Lumineers and Dr. Canine; and easily as a vital accent to the everyday Midwest-winter wardrobe. Wisconsin Knitwear produces about 200,000 to 250,000 merchandise in a typical yr. In an business more and more pushed by automation, mass manufacturing and offshoring, what units Wisconsin Knitwear aside is its “old-school” course of, mentioned Steven Arenzon, who took over possession from his father, Mauricio, an Argentine immigrant who began the corporate in 1979. “We’re the final knitting firm within the U.S. that has the machines that make our knit hats, with names knitted straight into the hats,” mentioned Arenzon. “(Different corporations) have completely different machines, newer machines, new know-how… and that doesn’t work for me. I just like the old-school.”