Sock Sale

This morning, my sister, son, two nieces and I headed over to Northfiled for the annual sock sale at the factory of Cabot Hosiery Mills. Cabot Hosiery Mills is one of the dwindling numbers of clothing manufacturers in the US but they still do about $9M a year in sales (~10,000 pairs of socks a week).

Their socks are usually sold under the name of national brands like The Gap, American Outfitter, etc. but once a year, they open the doors of the factory and sell the socks to the local folks. Socks that normally retail for $10-$15 per pair are sold for $1-$3. It's a great deal.

The sale always runs during the two weekends of deer hunting season basically to give the wives something to do while their husbands are off in the woods. Since I'm not a hunter, it's basically me and a shitload of old ladies at the sale. It's not my most testosterone moment but I love getting a few pair of high quality socks at cheap prices each year.

The sock sale isn't widely advertised because the word-of-mouth alone generates about 10,000 shoppers each year. It'll still be running next weekend so if you want to go and are looking for details, try calling the mill at 802-485-6066. The success of the sock sale has led a few other companies to piggyback on its success and have their own sales at the same time. There is a t-shirt/sweatshirt sale at Norwich University that benefits Northfield Hockey and Black Diamond has a sale on fleece clothing at their factory on Gallison Hill Road in Montpelier.

By the way, that isn't an optical illusion in the photo. My right foot really is a lot smaller than my left. My left is a size 13 and my right is a size 11.