Founder of Polartec dies
The former chief executive of performance textiles producer Malden Mills, Aaron Feuerstein, has died at the age of 95. His family said he had suffered from complications from pneumonia following a fall at his home near Boston.
Malden Mills was founded by his grandfather, but under Aaron Feuerstein’s leadership, the company went on to invent polar fleece fabric in the 1980s, leading to the launch of the Polartec brand in 1991.
He came to national and international prominence following a fire at the company’s factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1995 because he insisted on paying all 1,300 workers in full, successfully recovering only 75% of the money from his insurers.
Following Mr Feuerstein’s death, one of his sons, Daniel Feuerstein, told Reuters: “For my father, the most important stakeholders were his factory workers. His workers were his people, his community.”
