Settlemier’s Jackets has been making high quality varsity-style products for over 30 years in Portland, Oregon. With knowledge of and dedication to the profession passed down from Grandma Dorthy Nelson, Settlemier’s Jackets was established in 1990 by her daughter Gloria Settlemier in the basement of the family home. It has since grown to be the 10,000 sq.ft. factory it is today, now operated her son Aaron Settlemier.
It’s a tradition that goes back 3 generations from Aaron, to Gloria, to Gloria’s parents Dorothy and Dale Nelson (who established Nelson’s Jackets in 1967). As a result of the Great Depression and its devastation effects on the farming life in the American mid-West, a teenage Dorothy and Dale Nelson had no choice but to leave in search of greater opportunity. They eloped, packed up what little they had, and began their grand adventure. Via Seattle, WA they ended up settling in what was know as Vandport, OR (before a great flood wiped out the whole area, including the dirt-floor shack they lived in, after which it became part of the city of Portland, OR). From here the new life and trajectory of the family began.
“Grandama” Dorthy had a knack for entrepreneurship, and that DIY attitude moved her from an entry-level manufacturing position at Portland’s Jantzen Swimwear Company, towards establishing her own successful lettermen jacket factory years later. To this day Settlemier’s Jackets uses jacket patterns inspired by the same one’s Nelson’s Jackets developed, and operates knitting machines that once resided in the Nelson’s family garage as they worked tirelessly to establish a better life for their family. Pride in what we make isn’t just in our blood, but in the fabric we use and the sounds that fill the Settlemier’s factory every day.
Here at Settlemier’s Jackets we work tirelessly to keep alive the American manufacturing spirit and the traditions of American varsity athletics, activities and accomplishments as it was passed down from the Nelsons to the Settlemiers— from Dorothy, to Gloria, to Aaron.
We honor the past, but with an eye toward the future. We build our products with a dedication to those that came before us, and a drive for those who come next. Our company mission is to maintain high quality standards in everything we make, to constantly update our product and facility through innovation, and to always practice stewardship through our product and profits.