In 1924, my father, Sam Cowan founded Majestic Neckwear. The story began in 1901, when, at the age of thirteen, desolate and alone, he arrived in Canada, from Rumania, a country ravaged by famine and depression. Shortly thereafter he started as a peddler working out of a handcart selling scarves and mufflers and demand quickly called for the need of a horse and buggy. He was ambitious and his success led to the opening of a menswear store in Saskatoon, Canada. After many years, he sold it and pioneered making men’s Ties and Mufflers (Scarves) in Montréal, Canada under the name Majestic Neckwear. 23 years after arriving in Canada, at the age of 36, Sam began the long history of Majestic International.
During the Second World War, you had to have discipline and be adventurous to remain in business. All through those years, he had courage to take risks and his charming, honest business practices were held in high regard. His success required a move to a larger facility incorporating 8,000 square feet and employing many.
In the 50’s, our sleepwear heritage began: it was considered very chic for a man to wear a white terry robe at the end and beginning of his day. Majestic sold many prestigious Canadian department stores terry robes made in their Canadian facility for a mere $4.10 and retailing at $6.90!
At the same time, Majestic was making neckwear and the sales force carried (literally) both neckwear samples and robe swatches. Salesman found that their orders for robes were larger than their neckwear orders and the sample line easier to handle, thus neckwear fell to the wayside and Majestic became a sleepwear company.
In 1952, I became engaged to Andre Landsman and my father invited Andre to join the Company. Unfortunately, Andre was only able to work and learn from my Dad for a few months as my Dad passed away in 1953.
In the 1960’s Majestic acquired Caramy Knitting Mills and began producing sweaters and shirts. In addition we bought out an old established name in the sleepwear business. These lucrative years lead to a 60,000 square foot manufacturing facility encompassing 3 floors and employing 250 people.
The company continued to expand and grow. In the late 1980’s, when the space occupied by Majestic was no longer efficient, Andre met with our son, Sam, to see if he would be interested in joining the Company. Sam was excited about the opportunity of overseeing the design and construction of a new 150,000 square foot, state-of-the-art building to house Majestic, and the Company proudly occupied their new premises in 1989. Sam’s innovative design allows us to easily move thousands of garments through the warehouse with the touch of a finger.
Sam inherited the overwhelming sense of ambition and in the early 1990’s ‘set his sights’ on the U.S. market. The US market responded to his business acumen, the product and the outstanding service that became the cornerstones of the business today. Today we are honored to count such esteemed companies as Nordstrom, Dillard’s, Bloomingdales, Saks and another 350 better menswear doors as our customers.
In three generations, my Father, Husband and Son have worked to show that the original philosophy of Sam Cowan; honesty, integrity and quality products remain the backbone and success of our Company. Business has changed and the way we do business has changed but our founding ideals have not: quality products and quality service are what we believe in.
Esther Landsman
Majestic International