Textile in Mierlo: De Haes
In 1916, the De Haes brothers bought land on the Brugstraat in Mierlo to build a weaving mill. Production started in the same year.
Ignatius de Haes was the founder of the Eindhoven Cotton Company in Eindhoven. After his death in 1904, Ignatius' children took over the company. Due to the great pressure and demand for the company's products, a start was made in 1915 to establish a company in Mierlo. The difficult years of war and crisis (1914-1918) brought some problems. The partners now looked closer to home. Because there was a very great shortage of female employees, deliberations were held. They remembered there were many fur weavers in Mierlo who had worked for the company before. The management knew about the large families and was betting that it could attract many female workers.
Cautious and afraid that new construction and recruitment would be at the expense of the Fa. Swinkels, they warned the management of de Haes that there was nothing to be done with the Mierlo workers. For that reason, they had to cancel it. But the brothers ignored the advice and continued with their orientation in Mierlo.
The De Haes brothers bought land on the Brugstraat on the 20th of March, 1916. At the same time, they asked the Mayor and Aldermen of Mierlo to grant a permit to set up a mechanic weaving mill. The permit was granted on April 29, 1916, on condition that the facility was completed and put into operation before October 19, 1916. So it was quite a job to build a factory in six months and put it into operation at the same time!
