The corporation merged with National Services of Atlanta in 1972. Block
factories opened in Mexico, Arizona and the Dominican Republic. The business
continued to
grow; in 1985,
the year Fred
Block, Nathan’s
son resigned
from Block
Industries, the
company was
grossing $100
million a year
and Block shirts
were carried in
some 10,000
retail outlets
nationwide. But
fewer and fewer
were made in
Wilmington.
NEW HANOVER COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, LOUIS T. MOORE COLLECTION
61
HE FACTORY was pressed into military service with the
advent of World War II. About 1,800 dozen shirts a week,
90 percent of production, went to the U.S. Army.
The facility at 1510 S. Third Street continued to make
quality shirts under labels like Sir William, Freddie Boy,
Southland and Block. But eventually, it became difficult
to compete with companies with lower production costs.
C A P E F E A R R I V E R
S. THIRD ST.
S. FRONT ST.
SOUTH
FRONT
DISTRICT
GREENFIELD ST.
G R E E N F I E L D
L A K E
Top, left to right: A storefront in Greensboro displays a selection of Block Shirt
Company shirts, circa 1940. Women seated in Windsor chairs work at sewing
machines in the main workroom, circa 1930. An aerial view of the factory, circa
1940. The Block Shirt Factory, year unknown. Left: The South Front District
has brought business and people back to a once-blighted area of downtown
Wilmington.
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