F. Thomas Stanfield T'66
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"...we're still committed to producing onshore."
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Prospering Onshore in the Offshore Age
"Garment making is a very risky business," says Tom Stanfield, "and having the
right product is only half the equation." Stanfield's Limited seems to possess
the entire equation, having been profitable in a volatile industry since it was
incorporated in 1905. Stanfield has shepherded the company since he became
president and CEO in 1967, one year after earning his Tuck MBA.
Branded as "The Underwear Company," Stanfield's was founded in 1856
and has been in Truro, Nova Scotia, since 1882. In the 1890s, it focused on
wool long johns favored by gold miners on the Klondike Trail. It introduced
the drop seat and the T-shirt to Canada and was first to package men's briefs
in cellophane bags. It now has 500 Canadian employees and 250 at two U.S.
companies— Hot Chillys and Polar Max—that make "outdoor base layers" for
winter sports. ("People in the business," Stanfield confides, "don't like the word
underwear.") Hot Chillys has built the largest snow sports base-layer market
share in U.S.
Stanfield credits Tuck with giving him the background to run his family's
company at a young age and remain successful for nearly 40 years. "Tuck's
generalist MBA was good training for managing a company where I would be
doing different things right out of the chute. Three courses—in organizational
behavior, business policy, and labor issues—formed a triangle that gave me a
way of working with people I've never forgotten," he says. "They were very
influential in my career."
Stanfield says an early innovation has helped the company prosper in the
offshore age: becoming consumer- rather than production-oriented. "Back in
the 1960s, manufacturing, sales, and general management would come up with
the new product line. Then we developed a sophisticated process that reacts to
consumer demands, giving us a merchandising system that allows us to remain
competitive—and still here in Atlantic Canada.
"We do import garments with high stitch count and lots of parts," Stanfield
says, "but we're still committed to producing onshore." He feels that bigger
companies might not consider their commitment to the local economy and will
be less likely to seek out new technologies that could keep their onshore operations
competitive. An example was his lead in computerizing the company's
data processing in 1968. Such early computerization influenced the company's
business decisions and gave it a competitive edge.
"A lot of people don't want to work for a family company," Stanfield notes.
"They want the opportunity to become CEO. But others have different ambitions.
We offer fair compensation and an environment where you don't have to
work 24/7. It's a lifestyle difference first and foremost. And Atlantic Canada is
a capable, vibrant, forward-thinking part of the world."
So don't be surprised to learn that Stanfield was inducted into the Nova
Scotia Business Hall of Fame for his commitment to provincial development
and is chairman of Nova Scotia Business Inc., a private board that advises the
government and works to expand local business. "I think of my life's work as
trying to see our community get ahead," he says.
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