AT A GLANCE
1881: The Birth of a Brand: a family-owned fur and feather distribution business in Pennsylvania.
1920s: The Kemp family relocates to New York and the company rebrands with a focus on high-quality canvas sheets and goods.
1931: The company pivots into gear manufacturing, introducing the first backpack for the Boy Scouts of America.
1940s: The company rebrands to Diamond Brand Canvas Products and completes 144 government contracts, serving both the military and the Boy Scouts during WWII.
1942: Dave Kemp buys farm land in Henderson County, NC, including a small hosiery mill to transform into a thriving factory.
1964: The Diamond Brand Camping Center, WNC’s first outdoor retail store, opens to sell factory surplus and seconds.
1960s: Diamond Brand transitions leadership in the family and begins manufacturing its own branded products, as well as those for R.E.I., The North Face, and L.L. Bean
1989: The Soldier Crew Tent is made for the U.S. Army, which becomes crucial during the Persian Gulf War.
1990s: Diamond Brand sells most factory-made items through its factory outlet and retail space, while continuing key military contracts.
2000s: The company changes ownership from Will Gaye to John Delaloye, with the intention to expand and grow into a functional medium-sized enterprise and established American brand.
2015: The retail and manufacturing divisions officially split into Diamond Brand Outdoors and Diamond Brand Gear Company.
2016: Diamond Brand takes their factory-made items online and relocates to a 60,000 square ft factory in Fletcher, NC.
2017: The Renaissance Collection launches, a collaboration with Biltmore with a luxury line of travel bags.
2018: Diamond Brand introduces new styles of packs, wall tents, and compact tents, while continuing to sustain with military contracts.
2021: The LMNL modular tent launches on Kickstarter
2024: The Fletcher factory store and showroom opens weekly to the public for Factory Fridays.
2025: Pivoting as Diamond Brand Tentmakers, and launching a new collection of sustainably-made, contemporary tents for glamping and outdoor hospitality.
The Next 100 years: With a focus on environmental stewardship and social responsibility, Diamond Brand will continue to prioritize beautiful, durable and reliable products that allow more people to enjoy nature and the outdoors.
Humble Beginnings
Before our playground was canvas and cotton, it was fur and feathers. In 1881, German immigrant Abraham Kemp settled in Philadelphia with his wife Amelia. There, Abraham founded a premier fur and feather distribution business. Neither the arrangement nor the location lasted long. By 1920, the company had moved to New York City, where it transformed into a drop cloth manufacturing company, New York Drop Cloth Co. The canvas sheets painters lay down to keep the floor clean while they work, drop cloths were an early sign of the company’s future focus on craft.
Abraham’s business wasn’t the only thing growing; his family was growing, too. It wasn’t long before his youngest, Dave, took an interest in the family business. Dave grew up alongside the company. By high school, he chose work over school. It turned out to be the perfect education. When Abraham died in 1923, it was Dave who took over the family business. He was only 25 years old.
Troops on Two Fronts
From his second floor loft in Lower Manhattan, Dave pushed the envelope in a way his father never had. He soon expanded the company’s scope from drop cloths to everything from tarpaulins, piano covers, and jukebox covers to tents, knapsacks, and haversacks. In 1931, he introduced the Yucca Pack, which became standard issue for Boy Scouts nationwide.
Soon, everything with the Boy Scout label, from packs to tents, came out of his Singer sewing machines. While the Yucca Pack marked the beginning of a lasting partnership with the Boy Scouts, it also marked our entry into the world of gear craftsmanship.
Diamond Brand entered our name in 1941, when we officially became Diamond Brand Canvas Products. In the company’s early days, rolls of canvas were branded or stamped according to the quality of the material. A diamond indicated the highest quality canvas. Soon, the name came to symbolize quality everywhere, from the Boy Scouts to the military, with the start of WWII.
With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, we jumped into the war effort along with the rest of the country, completing 144 government contracts. However, we managed to serve the troops overseas while still serving the troops at home. Diamond Brand repurposed damaged goods and surplus materials to still outfit the Boy Scouts. Jack Newton, manager of Fairforest Finishing Co. in South Carolina, helped us get the necessary canvas. This was the start of a key partnership, one that would bring Diamond Brand to our home in the heart of the Blue Ridge.
A Blue Ridge Home
Together, Dave and Jack bought a piece of land in Henderson County, North Carolina in 1942. Dave soon bought Jack’s share, turning it into Shoal Falls Farm, named for the twin waterfalls on the property. There, Dave’s 50 cows dined on molasses and beer, bathed regularly, and slept on fresh sawdust every night. Three years later, Dave planted another root in WNC. He bought a small, defunct hosiery mill, which he soon transformed into a thriving factory.
In 1964 Diamond Brand made the jump to retail. The Diamond Brand Camping Center sold surplus and seconds from our factory nearby. This converted 900 square foot, four-car garage in Naples, NC was celebrated as “Western North Carolina’s First Outdoor Store.”
Tragedy struck when Dave died of a heart attack a few years later in 1966. His eldest, Bernie, wanted no part in taking over. The role of CEO fell instead to his youngest, Arnie.
Unlike his older brother, who had worked in the factory since he was 13, Arnie had never showed any interest in the family business. He proved to be a steady yet innovative leader nonetheless and was tasked with balancing the expanding businesses, both the retail division and the manufacturing division.
Consumer First
In the 1960s, Diamond Brand began quietly manufacturing backpacks and tents for larger companies like R.E.I., The North Face, and L.L. Bean, among others. In the 1970s, we made the jump and began manufacturing packs and tents of our own. Known for their reliability, our early consumer products were met with mounting enthusiasm. William S. Coursey III of Summerville, SC wrote:
“My impression is that your products are designed for those who know the value of quality. They surely helped us enjoy the country without worrying about gear. We want you to know we think Diamond Brand produces practical, unique products of good quality. Keep up the good work.”
The introduction of a consumer line, however, didn’t mean sacrificing our work with the military. Throughout the 1980s, Diamond Brand began working internally to perfect a four-man tent for the U.S. Army. The design was based off a recreational model known as the Southern Star, but with a much heavier tent frame and wall fabric. A military-grade model known as the Soldier Crew Tent went into production in 1989. The innovation came none too soon.
Just two years later, the Persian Gulf War began, and Diamond Brand once again jumped into the war effort. The U.S. government soon contracted Diamond Brand to produce tents for U.S. Army tank crews. By the end of the war, our workers had manufactured over 8,000 tents.
FrESH STARTS & New Beginnings
In the 1990s and early 2000s, most of the factory made items were sold off from the factory outlet in
In 2015, the retail and manufacturing divisions of Diamond Brand split, allowing each to focus on their own strengths.
So what began as factory seconds store in the 1960s, grew and became what is now known as Diamond Brand Outdoors, one of WNC’s top outdoor specialty retailers in downtown Asheville.
Simultaneously, the manufacturing division formerly became Diamond Brand Gear Company, and soon after the separation, the operation moved to its current site in Cane Creek Industrial Park in Fletcher.
This major rebrand marked a new era for Diamond Brand Gear and our mission to produce high-quality, American-made outdoor products and gear.
A New Era in CRAFT GEAR
Diamond Brand Gear officially brought their factory items online in 2016 and a few years later in 2017 they collaborated with Biltmore for their Renaissance collection, a line of luxury travel totes and bags.
In 2018, Diamond Brand continued to introduce more styles of packs and bags, several with a sustainability focus, as well as three-season compact tents, all while continuing to rely on military contracts and private label partnerships to stay afloat. These products naturally carried higher price points than products made overseas, but were backed up by quality and the company’s unique ability to make customizations and repairs,
The Future is Bright
Today, though the company’s name and ownership has changed, our mission remains the same: to manufacture gear with the ultimate craftsmanship and care.
In this new era, we are doing business with a triple-bottom-line approach- prioritizing people, planet and the collective prosperity. We are making hand-crafted tents and other products that connect people with the great outdoors, but doing it with a greater focus on environmental sustainability and social responsibility.
We will continue to design, manufacture and ship gear in Western North Carolina, one of the nation’s largest outdoor hot spots. We will also continue to hire passionate and skilled locals at a living wage. Doing everything here in house means we’re supporting the local economy while lowering our carbon footprint.
In 2024 we will be opening our 60,000 square foot Fletcher factory store and showroom to the public for the first time. “Factory Fridays” will present a unique opportunity for the brand to tell our story and connect directly with our customers, who are welcome to shop, take a tour, and get one on one support for all their outdoor needs. All of the products for sale in our Factory Store are made in-house, just as was the case in 1964.
In the meantime, the ideas at Diamond Brand keep popping and flowing. We are looking forward to an exciting new product line and yet another pivot as our customer base expands shifts from traditional camping to more luxury camping and glamping.
What does the future hold for Diamond Brand? We can’t wait to find out! SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter below to stay connected and watch our story unfold for the next 100 years.