FREEPORT – Falmouth resident Jo Miller, who has moved Maine Woolens from Brunswick to 124 Main St. in Freeport, uses only American wool in the production of wool and cotton blankets and throws available at the store. Maine Woolens employs 20 people between its manufacturing facility in Brunswick and its Freeport store.

Miller, a 1969 graduate of Winslow High School, has four decades of experience in the textile industry, and says she is driven to employ Maine people making Maine products.

Scrambling to manage inventory during the busy holiday shopping season, Miller took some time with the Tri-Town Weekly recently to answer questions about her business, and her background in the textile industry.

Q: How did you get started in the woolen business, when and why?

A: After graduating from the University of Maine in 1973, I moved to Yorba Linda, Calif., where my interest in textiles started. Returning to Maine in 1976, I became an instructor of geology at Colby College in Waterville, where I stayed for four years. After the birth of my third child, I became a stay-at-home mom who machine-knit woolen sweaters with Scandinavian designs. I did many craft fairs and juried shows throughout the state. Knitting expanded to weaving after a few years. I designed women’s woven outerwear for a number of years until the amount of sales was greater than my ability to produce on a handloom. So I decided to open up a production factory. I was living in Saco at the time and rented space in the old Saco-Lowell shops across from Biddeford Textile. The year was 1985. I continued there for four years until growth and the need for additional space allowed me to move production into the Worumbo Mill in Lisbon Falls. I worked there until 2003.

Q: How are your articles manufactured, and where?

A: In 2009, after a short hiatus from textiles to take care of my ailing husband, I started Maine Woolens. Maine Woolens is located in Brunswick. We have over 16,000 square feet of space, eight dobby looms and various related textile finishing equipment in a building that was previously used to build boats.

Q: What is your product line?

A: We produce cotton and wool blankets and throws, along with baby blankets.

Q: Your woolen goods seem reasonably priced compared to others on the market. How do you manage that?

A: We strive to make a quality blanket or throw at a reasonable price. We do so by being a vertical mill and we want our products to be available to everyone.

Q: You have said your purpose is to employ Maine people. Can you elaborate?

A: Our approach to business is not the almighty dollar, but a chance to offer Maine people a good-paying job with benefits and to promote a healthy economy and bring manufacturing back to the states. In the long run, we hope this approach will help everyone purchase an American-made product rather than sending our money off shore.

Q: When did you make the move from Pleasant Street in Brunswick? What was in that space previously?

A: In August 2013 we moved our retail from an under-producing site in Brunswick to Main Street, Freeport. We are pleased with the reception and with the success of the store in Freeport. We moved into a spot that previously had been the home of Chaudier pots and pans. We offer both first-quality and lower-priced mill overruns.

Maine Woolens owner Jo Miller is flanked by her granddaughter, Lilly Schilla, and vice president for sales Ray Boshard during a ribbon-cutting ceremony when the store recently moved from Brunswick to Freeport. 

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