Peds Legwear, formerly known as Richelieu Legwear and before that Richelieu Knitting, was an international legwear company that manufactured socks and other hosiery. As its height, the company had offices in Montreal, Quebec; Hildebran, North Carolina; and Shanghai, China.[1] It was acquired by fellow Canadian clothing manufacturer Gildan in 2016, who continues to manufacture and sell products under the PEDS brand, but otherwise terminated all Peds manufacturing operations with two years after the close of the sale.[2]
History
The Simard family founded Richelieu Legwear in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec in 1934. The family gained prominence in the region as shipbuilders and owners of Marine Industries (M.I.). Richelieu grew to eventually employee over 600 people in Quebec at its peak in 2002. The Simards maintained ownership of Richelieu until 1997, when Harvey Penner a Montreal businessman who joined Richelieu in the 1960s as a sales manager bought out the Simards and became president of Richelieu Knitting.[3]