Reinventing “Towel City, USA”: Textiles, Tourism, and the Future of the Southeastern Mill Town

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the loss of textile product manufacturing has impacted two rural towns in the southeastern U.S. In-depth interviews were conducted with 33 residents in the two towns. Participants represented a variety of stakeholders, including local elected officials, business leaders and government representatives along with displaced workers, former textile firm executives, local community college administrators, and small business owners. Key issues within three thematic areas point to the need for both towns to reinvent themselves after the loss of textile product manufacturing. Both communities are focusing on the future through economic development strategies that include tourism to draw on the textile industry heritage of the area. Findings point to the impact of declining manufacturing employment on rural communities and the people that live within them, while highlighting how the industry can remain an important part of a textile town's identity.

An affordable, sustainable tourist QoL model: the case study of Appalachian mountain towns

“…Fraccastoro and Karani (2014) noted that the encouragement of new tourism opportunities will be critical to the economic future of many small towns (2014). Kruse (2015) also found this need in his investigation of small towns in Appalachia where he noted that tourism can provide a “much-needed boost to their often struggling economies” (2015, p. 313). Hodges and Frank (2014) identified a similar imperative in their study of two rural towns in the southeastern US and found that tourism held some promise in counteracting the decline in manufacturing employment, in these cases, the textile industry.…”

“…Kruse (2015) also found this need in his investigation of small towns in Appalachia where he noted that tourism can provide a “much-needed boost to their often struggling economies” (2015, p. 313). Hodges and Frank (2014) identified a similar imperative in their study of two rural towns in the southeastern US and found that tourism held some promise in counteracting the decline in manufacturing employment, in these cases, the textile industry. Similar findings were noted by Xue and Kerstetter (2019) in their study of towns in rural China.…”

“…Baker (2016) likewise described the efforts of Nashville, Tennessee and Austin, Texas, to brand themselves as unique music-centered destinations. In the study noted earlier, Hodges and Frank (2014) conducted research with a cross section of constituents including local politicians, business leaders and even displaced workers, and found that there was a perceived need for these small urban areas to reinvent themselves (2014) through a number of different economic development strategies that include tourism. In their study of a small Appalachian community in Pennsylvania, Dong et al (2013) observed a similar need for rural communities to consider tourism as a new source of economic growth to help them overcome the collapse of their population and employment opportunities (Dong et al , 2013).…”