A Letter from Renfro Brands CEO and President, Stan Jewell

Our story begins 100-years ago in 1921 when Renfro Hosiery Mills was founded as a small domestic manufacturer with 25 employees. Now a century later, Renfro Brands has grown into a global leader in the marketing and manufacturing of the world’s most renowned sock brands.

As we chart the future of Renfro Brands, we must express our commitment to making a positive impact on the world around us. We all have tremendous pride in where we are today as a company and share in the belief that “a life well-lived, is lived in socks.” While it starts with great socks, our vision and impact go further than that, as we need to live our values every day.

We are so proud of where we are today, and I want our employees, partners, and customers to feel good about what and how we do things. Through our CSR program, Project Footprint, we have set ambitious goals for ourselves for the months and years ahead to give everyone a reason to see what we stand for.

Project Footprint reflects the actions we take daily to support our vision. We are committed to fostering better employment opportunities for more people, continuing to give back to the communities where we work, and making every effort we can to preserve a healthy planet for a healthy future.   

As part of Project Footprint, we have committed to achieving the following goals by 2025:

• We will increase the number of BIPOC employees at the manager level by over 20% to ensure the diversity of our leaders reflect the consumers we serve.
• We will launch an annual sock capsule on our direct-to-consumer platform Loops & Wales where 100% of proceeds will be donated to an organization helping people get back on their feet.
• We will use sustainable yarns and materials in at least half of the products we produce, with the goal of increasing this to 100% by 2030.

Every one of our goals is important to me and reflects where I want to push the company forward, and how we’ll hold ourselves accountable. Our success is dependent on our commitments and how we work to realize them every day. I believe strongly that a diverse workforce makes Renfro a better company. It also ushers in different thoughts and ideas that are vital for our future. Similarly, our planet and our communities play a critical role in allowing us to deliver the best products to our consumers, and without preserving and supporting them, our business wouldn’t be possible.

The last few years have brought great transformation for our society and hopefully positive change. Events have brought issues like racial injustice, climate change, and gender disparity to the forefront and led us all to have the types of conversations that are long overdue. There is a lot that we need to do as individuals to bring about change, but we also have an obligation as a business to use our resources for good.

The footprint made by our founders 100-years ago is one I’m proud to have stepped into in my career, and one I’m eager to preserve and honor while fostering its impact and evolution for the years to come.  At Renfro Brands, we are uniquely positioned in helping people everywhere get back on their feet to achieve a life well-lived, and we are committed to living out this vision every day of our next 100-years.

Stan Jewell
President and CEO, Renfro Brands