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Show OCTOBER 1995 | wesrann woman ENTREPRENEUR AND ACTIVIST yoming Fran Huff is One Shows pride in organizations that protect the worla we live in by continuously donating a portion of our profits to: Conservation Alliance * Greater Yellowstone Coalition Jackson Hole Alliance * Jackson Hole Recycling About Wyoming Woolens 518 Historic Main ¢ Park City, Utah & Jackson Hole Wyoming 801-645-9427 of the mail-order catalogue. Huff has two manufacturing plants in Afton and Cokeville, Wyoming. In 1989, Huff got wind that both Wal-Mart and K-Mart had plans to open stores in Jackson Hole. ‘Tt really upset me,” said Huff, “I started a campaign: ‘No Wal-Mart, No K-Mart, Stop the Blight in Jackson lBlolies” HH" bought newspaper adds and ing and saved my tips to buy sewing machines,” she told The Wasatch USA Mountain Times, as she hurried preparation for a marketing trip Japan in to Huff learned the clothing manuPARK CITY IS NO. 1 WITH MARK MILLER facturing business while working Powderhorn Mountaineering SUBARU MILLER was New ’96’s Arriving Now! © 268-3734 3734 South State « Salt Lake City, Utah Sales and sold to out-of-state Service ing wrap-around beer can coolers. was a modest beginning, but her a foothold to build upon. Wyoming Woolens now its products under four including Wyoming Wear, Feet, Teton Toasters and, of Legacy® Wagon Wyoming Woolens. The It it gave markets labels, Fleece course, company sells to 1,200 retail accounts. The company has retail outlets in Jackson and Park City. Recently, Wyoming Woolens introduced a SUBARU.¢>) The Beauty of All-Wheel Drive™ PAGE 4 bumper stickers. And in Jackson. In the end, Wal-Mart was stopped from opening in Jackson. But K-Mart already had purchased land. Huff and a group of supporters, however, were successful in forcing the retailer to build a wooden facade and reduce the size of its building. interests Huff says that with only a high school education her opportunities were limited. But she latched onto the clothing business as what she believed was her opportunity to stay in Jackson and enjoy the lifestyle of a western ski town. hen Powderhorn left town, Huff with several partners started the original Wyoming Woolens in 1976. Four years later, the company was in trouble. Huff didn’t detail the fallout but internal problems clearly couldn’t be overcome. “I felt I had been treated unfairly. But the best revenge is success,” she said. Huff started anew in 1981, mak- SUBARU, 649-2609 produced she mounted a campaign to recall the mayor and town council for allowing the mega-retailers to open for in Jackson Hole, where she took a job as an unskilled worker in 1972. She began cutting patterns and worked her way up in the company, before it SUBARU. oy MARK Woman, compa- being a waitress or I was going to start over. . . ] went back to waitress- TERN) Wyoming Weme — risedt'rer HOLE, 10 percent ny’s annual sales are in Japan. But Fran Huff is more than a successful business woman. She is also a community activist, who has battled the likes of Wal-Mart to a standstill and continues to fight to preserve the nature of her adopted home — Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The road hasn’t been an easy one, says the dynamic and engaging Huff, who filed for bankruptcy in 1981, “I was pretty upset (after the failure). I was either going to go back to We hope you take a vested interest in your Surroundings by making The Wasatch Mountain Times an important part of your mountain lifestyle. JACKSON Very Determined ran Huff built Wyoming Woolens from scratch. Last year, the Jackson Holebased outdoor clothing manufacturer and retailer sold $4.5 million in jackets, sweaters, hats and footwear. “It ' was the most expensive K- Mart ever built,” she noted. But the battle continues, says Huff. “Jackson is getting to be generic, like all towns across the country, with (retail) chain after chain. The small mom and pop retailer that gave the town it’s character are gone. Wyoming Woolens is the only homespun company left in downtown Jackson.” Presently, Huff said she is fighting a proposed annexation that would allow dense housing developments on Jackson. 5,000 acres adjoining Huff also has joined the fight against the Noranda Mine just outside Yellowstone Park. Tailings from the gold mine would pollute local rivers and make a large negative impact on the environment, she explained. And that is simply not acceptable to Fran Huff, one very determined western woman. @ |