We Were, We Are, We Will Be is a Umatilla Indian tribal motto that could well serve as the credo of Oregon’s Bishop family.  Since 1909, this clan has been responsible for building and maintaining a manufacturing dynasty that has made the name Pendleton synonymous with woven quality.

Pendleton, the town, became a major railhead in the 19th century, the shipping center for wool produced by vast herds of sheep that roamed the rolling plains of eastern Oregon.  It was here that three ambitious Bishop brothers inspired community backing to resurrect a failed wool processing business.  The mill the Bishops founded stands today, proudly emblazoned Pendleton Woolen Mills, and still producing virgin woolens with distinctive native American tribal designs.

“Our involvement with native Americans has been constant since our beginning,” explains Pendleton president C.M. “Mort” Bishop III.  He gestures to a panoramic photo on the corporate boardroom wall, a portrait of a standing crowd at the Pendleton Roundup Stadium, circa 1927…”this was a moment of silence to honor Grandfather, who first got local Indians involved in the Roundup.”  Bishop adds that his family was instrumental in creating the rodeo event that has earned a worldwide reputation.  

“The Roundup began in 1910, the year after our mill was opened and during event organization, Grandfather proposed to the Umatilla  elders that they grant tribal involvement.  They refused, but the day the first Roundup began, our plant workers saw a dust cloud moving toward town that proved to be tribal riders and a Bishop has been the Indian Director for the tribe’s participation in Roundup performances ever since.”

Tribes support blanket business

The original Pendleton mill (there are others now, in Washougal WA and Guild NH) is devoted to the continuing production of Indian-inspired blankets, robes and shawls.  Pendleton designers have adorned this product line with patterns drawn from tribal cultures across America.  Design authenticity is underlined by the fact that native Americans are the majority of the market for these weavings.  Southwestern designs are the most popular and Arizona and New Mexico lead other states in Indian item sales.

While blankets begat today’s diversified Pendleton textile production, perhaps the company’s best known product is the virgin wool men’s shirt.  Bishop explains that wool shirts were a menswear staple in the early 20th century, but were drab and utilitarian.  Grandfather Bishop envisioned colorful patterns for shirt textiles and a tradition was born.  By the late 1940’s, no properly clad young man in the USA was without a virgin wool Pendleton shirt (preferably a plaid).  Posterity took note in a later decade when teen agers’ singing idols The Beach Boys began their career as The Pendletones.

Gender recognition

While blankets and menswear wove Pendleton into a nationally-known brand, by 1949 the company recognized another marketing potential and launched a virgin wool sportswear line for women (the 49er jacket was the initial hit).  Today, a broad line of sportswear items are offered to both genders and womenswear comprises 50% of current sales (menswear is 20%, blanket & Indian design items 15% and fabrics 15%).

Wool (and not just any wool, but the highest quality ‘virgin’ cloth) built the Pendleton brand image.  Once there were over 800 woolen mills in the United States, now there are only a handful and wool consumption has dropped, Bishop reveals.  However, he notes that 65% of his company’s sales are wool fabrics.  “We’ve embraced technology that produces new wool finishes and weights…we now turn out lightweight worsted wools, washable wools, breathable wools and ‘seasonless’ wools.”  Bishop declares wool superior to both cotton and synthetics “in what you can achieve with colors.”

Wool for weaving is still produced in Oregon, “but there used to be 10 times as many sheep raised here when our company started,” Bishop says.  He reports that 50% of Pendleton’s wool supply still comes from Oregon, including producers that have supplied the company for generations.  “Australia is the dominant world garment wool producer and controls the market.” Bishop notes.  He explains that a majority of sheep now being raised in America are species ideally suited for producing meat rather than fabric.

Selective distribution rules

Unlike a majority of apparel manufacturers, Pendleton is very selective about where its products are sold.  “Pendleton Shops” exclusively selling only this brand are located in major U.S. cities, Canada and Japan.  Historically, the brand was purveyed via selected traditional department and specialty stores.  Two decades ago, a retail division was created to build the exclusive Pendleton shop concept.  This effort renews an activity that formed the roots of today’s company.  

In 1889, one Thomas Kay, an English immigrant, opened a woolen mill in Salem, Oregon. Kay’s eldest daughter, Fannie, married a Salem retail merchant, C.P. Bishop, to form a manufacturing and merchandising union.  This coupling resulted in the three Bishop sons, Clarence, Roy and Chauncy, that moved to Pendleton to found today’s widespread enterprise.

Today, there are no less than six Bishops active in the company.  Broughton “Brot” Bishop is Chairman, C.M. Jr. is Vice Chairman.  Their sons have now assumed major roles, with C.M. III as President, while John and Charles are involved in mill and financial management and Peter is menswear merchandise manager.

Whither the future?

Where is this hands-on family management heading?  As might be expected, 
tradition will dictate some immediate Bishop plans.  Fall 2002 will see the launch of numbered collectibles that reproduce the woolen shirts that dominated student wear decades ago.  “We’ve taken a serious step beyond apparel,” Mort III notes, “with items for household furnishings now in the line and more being added.”  This effort will include a new ‘bedroom line’ also launching in fall 2002, with a Bishop prediction that “cocooning” will be a consumer trend as householders withdraw from the perils of the outside world as defined by September 11 past.

President Bishop reports that sales have grown very well the past two years.  Having just returned from an eastward visit of company retail outlets, he believes the current sales season looks “iffy” due to unusually warm fall weather and 911-inspired consumer conservatism.  He points to fabric sales as a growth area, spurred by the furniture market.

While tradition is saluted daily by the Bishop clan, the internet has been embraced as a new marketing outlet.  A well-crafted, voluminous web site is generating direct sales in cyberspace.  This effort also profitably complements a strong catalog direct mail sales program and points web surfers toward Pendleton retail outlets.

The Pendleton heritage is being showcased this month by the Oregon Historical Society, with a “Wrapped In Tradition” exhibit at their Portland digs featuring an extensive Indian trading blanket collection compiled by glass-blowing artist celebrity Dale Chihuly.
    
Oregon-based clothing manufacturers with worldwide markets flourished here in the form of White Stag and Jantzen not so many years ago, but now are only memories.  The Bishop brood seems quite successfully bent on maintaining an Oregon apparel tradition.