Duck Head history

In 1892 the brothers tried to trademark the name "duck," but were turned down by the Trademark and Registration Office in Washington because the term was in general usage.

After buying Edgefield Cotton in 1983, they formed a corporation called Alchem Capital Corp., the name alluding to the medieval science of alchemy, which espoused that base metals could be transformed into gold.

By 1988 Delta Woodside operated 37 plants, generating revenues of $488 million and earning a profit of $28 million.

In 1989 it acquired O'Bryan Brothers and its Duck Head brand for approximately $14.1 million.

Duck Head grew rapidly, especially after a national expansion program that was launched in the summer of 1990 and supported by advertising that targeted 20- to 40-year-old men.

The matter would finally be aired in a 1993 trial, in which the jury awarded the reps $29 million, including $7 million for mental anguish.

Even before the final numbers came in, a sharp drop to $95.4 million in sales and a net loss of $17 million for fiscal 1994, the company's president, Phil Brader, resigned.

1995: Paul Robb is named president of Duck Head.

In April 1997 Duck Head opened its first Duck Head Shops, totaling some 200 menswear shops and 175 boys' shops located in such department stores as Parisian, Dillard's, and J.C. Penney.

Robb was part of a management buyout effort, but when that failed he was fired in January 1999.

In early 2000 registration papers were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in June the spinoff was completed, resulting in the creation of Duck Head Apparel Company, Inc.

In 2001 Duck Head looked at ways to generate cash, including the sell-off of its headquarters and distribution center in Winder.