American Roots Wear Market Share Analysis for March 2026

Ben Waxman and Whitney Reynolds Waxman, founders and owners of American Roots, in Westbrook  Photo: Tim Greenway for Mainebiz By Renee Cordes   To the sounds of African gospel music, stitchers seated at sewing machines are attaching sleeves, pockets and zippers onto thick green and blue garments piling up on tables around the room. Working in a 40,000-square-foot, light-infused factory inside Westbrook’s Dana Warp Mill, they’re making hoodies, jackets, T-shirts and custom apparel for American Roots, a clothing manufacturer founded in 2015. It sells in bulk to unions and business organizations. Stitchers work in teams, supervised by two floor leads who started as stitchers themselves. “We make sure the work is flowing nicely, and we check also the quality,” Makenga Tshibwabwa, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, explains over the steady hum of sewing machines. Ragad Abo Aljaaz, who hails from Iraq, laughs about how at home “I call my daughter ‘Matenga’ because I think in the day I say ‘Matenga’ 100 times.” Both are part of a close-knit community of immigrants representing 10 nationalities in the 75-strong workforce. An American flag hangs on the wall. “We work as a family,” Tshibwabwa says as colleagues stand for a guided stretching break. PHOTO / TIM GREENWAY American Roots, based at Dana Mill Warp in Westbrook, is staffed by a 75-strong workforce composed mainly of immigrants representing 10 nationalities. Building a workforce Ben and Whitney Waxman founded American Roots in 2015, inspired in part by Ben’s mother Dory Waxman, who ran a woolen goods business in Portland. With American Roots, the couple set out to produce high-quality, union-made apparel sourced 100% domestically and rebuild manufacturing in a more just and sustainable way. Undeterred by the lack of skilled textile workers, they created a workforce trained to sew at a school founded by Dory. Today, the company relies on around two dozen sewers to produce around 2,0