1917 Capel Rugs is Born:
Using the raw material from his venture Gee-Haw Plow Lines, A. Leon Capel fashioned braids and created the very first reversible braided rug, calling it "New Departure." This was the beginning of the Capel family rug business.
1919 20"x30" Capel braided rug first appeared in Sears Roebuck catalog. Sears bought 5000 of these scatter rugs.
1926 Troy Knitting Mill Company, now the corporate headquarters, was purchased
1935 Capel partners with JC Penney
1939 Three large braids were made for President Franklin Roosevelt's Hyde Park home: 12' round, 12'x15', 9'x12' oval
1942 First Braided Rug Catalog,
Marshall Fields ordered braids, but since raw materials were being used for the war, Leon Capel proposed that Marshall Fields (who owned Fieldcrest) exchange cotton for rugs.
1947 Capel partners with Montgomery Ward
1954 A. Leon Capel, Jr. joins family business, the first of the second generation of Capels to work at the company, affectionately called ‘G2’, Capel partners with Spiegel
1957 Jesse Capel joins family business
Company renamed A. Leon Capel & Sons, Inc.
1961 Arron W.E. Capel joins family business
Pee Dee Mill purchased
1963 Capel launches imports business: Seeing a demand for a more diverse product line, Capel branched out from braids and began offering imported collections from Japan and Finland. The line would continue to expand to include high-quality hand tufted and hand knotted rugs from India and China.
1976 Smitherman Mill purchased
1978 Old Homestead, one of Capel’s first rugs, inducted into World Floor Covering Association Hall of Fame
1980 Company renamed Capel, Inc.
1981 Mary Clara Capel joins family business, marking the beginning of 'G3' : It was customary for the Capel children of 'G3' to start working for the company part-time in the summer at the age of 14—the girls in the home office, the boys in the maintenance department.
1982 Capel rug appears in Steven Spielberg's sci-fi classic, E.T.
1984 Capel partners with LL Bean
1987 Ron Capel joins family business
1988 Debut of Capel Galleries: In response to dealer input, Capel developed the first-of-its-kind in-store gallery concept—a customizable point-of-sale environment set up as a stand-alone brand showroom—which debuted at the annual High Point Market tradeshow.
1989 Richard Capel joins family business
1990s Woven Spirits Navajo program started
1991 Cameron Capel joins family business
1996 Capel partners with Pottery Barn: Pottery Barn was instrumental in the revival of rectangular braided rugs by putting a fresh, colorful spin on this traditional style
Capel Incorporated Endowed Scholarship for Montgomery Community College established
2002 Williamsburg® license begins
2005 Biltmore® license begins
2013 A. Leon Capel Jr. inducted as a Fellow Member into the American Furniture Hall of Fame - the inductee from outside the furniture industry.
2015 Capel rug appears in Netflix original series Grace and Frankie
2017 Capel’s centennial celebration
