The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Business Week PAGE 32 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY APRIL 26. 1989 John Walmark shows off a few of the man§ varieties of men‘s neckties manufactured at the John Forsyth Co. Ltd. factory on Dupont Street. Wider ties and ties reflective of the 1950s and 60s are the big trends today, said Walmark. Jan Kirkby photo Waterloo‘s Forsyth saga ‘"But we have to be careful in order to be able to handle the volume of orders. So we‘ll concentrate on the northâ€"eastern United States." Forsyth ties are "fashion for the masses," said Walmark. We do a lot of silk, but we‘re mainly polyester. We sell to the middle market for Mr. and Mrs. Average Consumer." The shirtwear division of Forsyth has already established a sales office in New York City, and the necktie division will do likewise in about two years, after it has established an even stronger presence in the Canadian market, said Walmark. We sell (neckties) only to national chains," said Walmark, who added that Forsyth is the third largest tie manufacturer in Canada. "Business has almost doubled in the last three years." Gross sales exceeded $5 million for the division last year, he said. As for the entire range of products, "there‘s probably not a (menswear) apparel conglomerate that‘s close to the size of us. Gross sales exceeded $120 million last year." That computerization will help Forsyth as it enters the American market. Though it has not yet started to turn its attention seriously to the States, Walmark said "free trade if anything will help us." The clothing manufacturer has a long history in this area. In 1903, Kitchener native Jo@n Forsyth started making men‘s shirts out of his fathers button factory. The company grew, expanding its range of products and is now a publiclyâ€" traded company headquartered in Montreal. Beginning in 1985, the necktie division was computerized to produce a larger volume of quality product more efficientâ€" ly, and enable Forsyth to remain competitive in its market. "Some of these machines can do in excess of 1200 to 1400 ties a day. It gives (a tie) a perfect tip every time. It allows you to produce more and so keeps more people working and it gives you a much better tie." . The shirt division for the company is located in Kitchener, and the Waterloo facility took care of the overflow. But today, over 30 fullâ€"time people work at the Waterloo plant, with another 30 university students employed for the summer. The Waterloo workers make scarves as well as neckties. Yet, though we buy ties year in and year out (and accumulate a few wild ones around Christmas) many Waterloo men may not be aware that one of Canada‘s largest tie manufacturers is located right here, on Dupont Street in Uptown. A shirt warehouse used to be located at the John Forsyth Co. Ltd. building until about three years ago, according to viceâ€"president John Walmark. Chronicle Staff About once a year most men seem to go out and buy one or two of them to supplement their wardrobe.