Nester Hosiery houses one of the most experienced teams of designers, technicians and hosiery workers in the industry. Its employees are as high performance as its products. And its technology is always evolving; Nester’s in-depth tracking systems now connect every cone of yarn to every pair of socks, even tracing back to individual wool farms.

Nester Hosiery is well positioned for the future. The company has deep roots in its supply chain, from wool growers to yarn processing companies to software developers. It enjoys solid, mutually beneficial relationships with its customers, brands, and licensing partners. It produces the most innovative socks on the market. And it does everything with an eye on the community, both locally and globally.

A new framework of leadership is established for the long haul with talent and experience in every position. Marty Nester continues his role as CEO. Kelly Nester is promoted to President. Gina Ross, Keith Nester, and Kerry Nester are promoted to Executive Vice Presidents of Product Development, Operations, and Sales, respectively.

Nester Hosiery builds and implements a customized warehouse inventory management system, which provides real-time inventory tracking throughout the plant. Every package, cone of yarn, and sock is located and tracked with hand-held scanners.

Nester Hosiery purchases ACC Sales, a small company of sock specialists, and in the process acquires four skilled executives.

Nester Hosiery purchases the Ballston Knitting plant, which is 250 percent larger than its present location and is conveniently located right up the street. The company begins converting the building into a high efficiency, 21st century manufacturing center and plans for a gradual move. The relocation will be completed in 2005, allowing Nester to significantly increase volume to meet global demand and become more efficient than ever.

The company finds a brand partner in Woolrich, the original outdoor clothing company, established in 1830. Nester Hosiery begins developing its own full line of branded socks that are made seasonally and sold globally.

Nester expands and streamlines its operations, setting up shop in a larger facility formerly owned and occupied by Brown Wooten Mills in Mount Airy.

Nester Hosiery begins its long-term partnership with software development company Mobile Foundry. This partnership enables Nester to build a custom Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that provides total visibility into supply, demand, and production operations. Order processing, shipping, inventory management, and sales forecasting tools and reports enable Nester to focus on making great socks.

Nester purchased its first machinery with seamless toe closure capabilities. This was the first of many and this type of knitting would become the majority of production within a few years.

By this time, Nester Hosiery is well on its way to becoming a world leader in wool sock innovation and production, incorporating performance synthetics into its products. The factory continually adds new machinery, allowing it to craft any type of sock – heavyweight/thermal, midweight/everyday, lightweight/multi-sport, ultra-lightweight, and beyond.

Housed in an old grocery building in Dobson, NC, Nester Hosiery   discovers the advantages of working with and wearing wool. The factory makes its first of many investments in modern knitting equipment,   outfits the facility to become a top-to-bottom sock processor and starts manufacturing high performance socks for outdoor enthusiasts.   Retailers notice, and Nester Hosiery begins to develop partnerships with premier outdoor brands.

After 20 years of working in the sock manufacturing industry, Marty Nester decides he can add something to the process and founds Nester Hosiery. The family owned and operated business gets its start producing unfinished cotton crew socks on first-generation, belt-driven machinery.