Best Answer #61: As no suitable answer was received here is our "best answer":
When the T.A.G. Apparel Group went bankrupt in 1990, all its Harvey Woods plants in Woodstock closed on April 30 and let go 600 employees.

Extra Information From Quiz Committee:
Woodstock’s textile industry went through many changes during the 1900s, as did Harvey Woods Ltd. It was, for a time, one of the city’s largest employers and its name remembers two of the industry’s local pioneers: K.W. Harvey and James W. Woods.

Kenneth W. Harvey started Oxford Knitting Co. in 1906, on Ingersoll Ave. at Oxford , but sold it in 1909, and left town. Returning to Woodstock, he opened Ken Knit in 1912, at 95 Wilson, just north of what is now the CNR tracks. Ken Knit made ladies and children’s underwear. Perhaps feeling expansive, two years later, he renamed it Harvey Knitting Co. Knowing there was also a good market for hosiery, in 1920 he started up a second factory, Hosiers Ltd., at 16 Vansittart Ave.

In the late 1920s, the senior officers of a competing company, Zimmerknit Co. of Hamilton, were killed in a rail crossing accident. K. W. Harvey bought the company. His three factories continued in business until 1937 when they were taken over by York Knitting Co.

Puritan Knitting Mills was started in Toronto by James W. Woods, in 1904, to supply the needs of the leading wholesale house, Gordon MacKay and Co., of which he was President.

His son, J.D. Woods, took Puritan over and renamed it York Knitting Mills, in 1911. The plant spun wool and cotton yarn for sale to the clothing trade. By the early 1920s, the mill also made its own high grade underwear which it sold to retailers through an associated company, Woods Underwear Company.

In 1937, York Knitting Co. bought and took over the three businesses of Kenneth W. Harvey: Zimmerknit Co. of Hamilton, plus the Harvey Knitting Company and Hosiers Limited of Woodstock.

By 1955, both the headquarters of Zimmerknit and all its production had been moved to Woodstock.

York Knitting Mills closed out its spinning operations in Toronto in 1964 and moved all its manufacturing to Woodstock. Its head office, four manufacturing plants and a sales outlet were now all in Woodstock -

York Knitting Mills officially changed its name to Harvey Woods Ltd. in 1966, to match the retail name of its products.

In 1968, Harvey Woods Ltd. acquired the manufacturing and distribution rights to Esquire socks and Supp-hose in Canada. It opened Plant No. 5, at 285 Brant, in 1970 and also acquired a license to manufacture and distribute Jockey men’s wear. Harvey Woods now employed nearly 800 in its five Woodstock plants. By 1973, it employed nearly 1000.

Business began to fall off in the 1980s. To reduce costs, Harvey Woods Ltd. closed its Dundas/Huron Street Plant No. 2 in 1983 and moved its production to 18 Vansittart Ave. Unfortunately, this consolidation was not enough to keep it independent, and Harvey Woods Ltd. was bought out by T.A.G. Apparel Group in 1985 for nearly $9 million. Harvey Woods became a subsidiary division of TAG, but kept its name and its management.

Business continued to decline. During 1990, T.A.G. Apparel Group went into receivership in March. On April 30, 1990, its Harvey Woods division closed, putting 600 out of work.

By 1992, the MacLean Group Inc. had bought the Harvey Woods factory at 18 Vansittart Ave. and had restarted it on a reduced scale to manufacture hosiery.

Sources:
- ‘Harvey Woods amalgamates two operations,’ Western Ontario Business,’ June 6, 1983 (Woodstock Public Lib archives)
- ‘Harvey Woods in receivership,’ Daily Sentinel-Review, Mar 1, 1990 (Woodstock Museum archives)
- Vernon’s City of Woodstock directories, 1914 to 1994 (Woodstock Public Library archives)
- Doug M. Symons, ‘The Village That Straddled A Swamp,’ (Oxford Historical Society; Woodstock Public Library)