By: Shayla Terry

Our eyes have seen the old pharmaceutical factory come alive as Sew American takes form. This Saturday, July 1, the business will open its long awaited beach factory with a community celebration.

Since hearing of the embroidery and towel business coming to Luverne, there has always been a beach outlet to look forward to being attached to it. While the factory opened in March, the outlet is officially stocked for business.

“We’re going to have hot dogs and hamburgers, lots of freebies and live music,” Benton said. “We’re going to give away door prizes and it’s going to be a fun day.”

Ben Kaufman, co-owner, will also be in attendance to meet with customers and residents of Luverne. Kaufman, whose business Kaufman’s towels is moving production to the factory, has been largely based in Miami throughout the establishment of Sew American. This will be his first meeting with the community.

Kaufman largely travels the world handling sales for Kaufman’s towels. While on the road, he picks up products to supplement the outlet with.

“In the maturity of Kaufman’s Sales, we go to so many shows,” Kaufman said. “You start to see that everyone buys everything. If you come to the outlet, you will see $3 tie dye t-shirts to $10 sheet sets.”

Bed Bath & Beyond is Kaufman’s largest client. The outlet will be filled with products from their collections as well. The outlet is also used to place the occasional mistake in the factory.

“Like any business we have some mistakes,” Kaufman said. “We’re really good at what we do, but some types we have spell mishaps and they will go to the outlet to be sold. It’s also a place for us to sell off the excess. If someone cancels an order, we have the merchandise to stock the outlet.”

Located on Highway 331, the outlet is of prime location to attract the beach traffic that Crenshaw County has become accustomed to.

“Being located on the beach highway gives us a perfect outlet to dispense of beach towel mistakes,” Benton said. “We have great prices on beach towels. Travelers can either stop in Luverne and get them cheap, or go on down to Panama City to pay two to three times more.”

The grand opening celebration will kick off at 10 a.m. at the Sew American Outlet at 72 Jane Drive in Luverne. Festivities will last until 2 p.m.

Through regular hours have not been set in stone, Benton says the outlet will be open seven days a week.