Komar Threads
Komar began in the early 1900’s as a small textile jobbing company named Louis Kovel and Son. The company occupied a storefront facility near downtown Chicago and sold piece goods to the local apparel cutting trade. At the time, Chicago was second only to New York City in the manufacture of men’s and women’s garments. Louis Kovel’s son, Jerry Kovel, took over the reins in 1939 and expanded the business into finished textiles, selling to the furniture and automobile seat cover industries that were thriving in the Midwest at the time. The company was incorporated and named Kovel Textiles, Inc. In 1945 Jerry met Lewis Markin, a sewing thread salesman, at the Mart barbershop, a local hangout for businessmen associated with the textile and garment trades in Chicago. Kovel and Markin joined forces and formed a new company with an appropriately combined name—Komar Threads, a division of Kovel Textiles, Inc. Post World War II brought on an unparalleled demand for consumer products; Komar Threads soon became one of the leading suppliers to the Midwestern needle industry by selling thread to manufacturers of furniture, mattresses and bedding, companies that produced work gloves, canvas products, apparel, and more. Howard Markin, son of Lewis Markin, joined the company in 1959 and Al Rothschild, son-in-law of Jerry Kovel, came into the fold in 1965. They purchased the company from their respective families in 1970, and under their leadership the company expanded rapidly both in volume and territory. In 1971 the Komar Threads division embarked upon a major West Coast expansion targeting the booming Los Angeles jean and apparel industries. In 1993, Kovel Textiles purchased Stitchcraft Thread Mills of Los Angeles integrating that business into the Komar Threads Division.
Apparel Manufacturers Supply Company
In 1932 Joseph H. Weitzenfeld was selling shoes in Los Angeles and received a telephone call from his boyhood friend, Jack Gottlieb, president of Threads Inc. informing him that he, Joe, was going into the sewing thread business in Los Angeles that very day. With the backing of Threads Inc. Joe founded Apparel Manufacturers Supply Co, and at the conclusion of World War II, brought his son-in-law, Bernard Feldman into the company. The company became a dominating force in thread distribution on the West Coast, and during this growth period the company learned how to source, merchandise, and distribute many other products to the “Garment Industry”. The company became a leading provider of elastics, linings, papers, chemicals, and notions, and continued to grow as a family business with the addition of the third and fourth generations, Michael Feldman and his son Jonathan Feldman. Their vision was to be a national company servicing the “Sewn Products Industry”.
Komar Apparel Supply Company
In 2000, Apparel Manufacturers Supply Company merged with Komar Threads to form Komar Apparel Supply Co. LLC., headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village. During March of 2004 Komar purchased Imperial Garment Supply of Dallas followed in 2005 by the acquisition of the Mark Textile Division of Coast Pad and Trim a Los Angeles based distributor of interlinings, elastics and narrow fabrics further strengthening its dedication to the Sewn Products Industry. Alliance Thread and Supply of Warminster, PA was acquired in September of 2007 completing Komar’s goal of becoming a national distributor. Komar is proud of its well trained national sales force supported by offices in Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.
Komar Today
Komar is as diversified as the customers it serves. We are:
- The largest independent distributor of sewing thread in the United States, representing Coats, the most respected thread manufacturer in the world.
- A leading converter of Garment and Industrial Paper products.
- A national distributor of aerosols, adhesives and lubricants used in the sewn products industry.
- A diversified national distributor of design, production, finishing, and packaging supplies.
With a team of professionals committed to meeting the needs of our customers, Komar provides superior solutions that work. Our advanced technology provides the quality of service our customers have come to expect.