Where Would We Be Without Them & What Will the Future Bring?

As another Father’s Day comes and goes, it made me start to think, where would we be without Jacob A. Fortunoff? Jacob A. Fortunoff is the JAF in Jaftex and he is the one that got the ball rolling for our family in the textile industry. I am sure great grandpa Jack would be pretty amazed to know that we are deep into the fourth generation with the fifth generation on deck. He would also be pretty amazed with how the business has changed over the years.

I think about great grandpa Jack travelling through the streets of New York City jobbing fabrics. In other words, he would be selling other people’s leftovers and made a nice business of this. I could only imagine what that was like. Overtime, the family business went from jobbing fabrics to manufacturing ladies sleepwear and many of its components. And now, we sell quilting fabrics to the over the counter trade as you all know.

Each generation changed based on whatever was going on in the fabric industry at the time. I can’t say for sure when we went from jobbing to ladies sleepwear, but I do know that we went from manufacturing sleepwear to our current business mainly on my grandfather’s and father’s watch in and around the 1980’s-1990’s. At that time, most of the sleepwear business moved to China and that really hurt the US textile industry. That is kind of ironic considering our current trade war with China.

At present, we are making big bets on the quilt shop only business, but who knows what will be next for our industry and my family business in particular? In 2020, we will be celebrating 90 years. My dad is in his early 70’s and my brother and I are in our late 40’s. My kids and my nieces and nephews range in age from 6-14.

Will the kids come into the business? If so, which of them will be in it? What will their roles be? Will we sell the company? Will the business totally change focus to some other aspect of fabric? Where will I be in 10 or 15 or 20 years? The questions are endless and the answers are impossible to predict. If my crystal ball could tell me, I would welcome the opportunity to see what the future will bring and where my mark will be left.

In any case, I am proud that great grandpa Jack started the business when he did and I am glad that we are able to keep his legacy alive. I am glad to be a part of the family business as it is a very special and unique opportunity. It is also a pretty nice gig! What I imagine will be even cooler is if I get to work with my kids one day. To me, that would be a Father’s Day dream come true. Until then……