Editing Eden, North Carolina (section)

==Major industry and economy==
[[File:Eden Mall facade.jpg|thumb|Eden Mall in 2020]]
Eden has three [[downtown]] areas, concentrated in the former towns of Leaksville, Spray, and Draper.<ref>{{cite news| last = Brown| first = Jennifer Atkins| title = Rockingham's diverse economy boosts growth| newspaper = News & Record| edition = Rockingham Now| date = May 15, 2022| url = https://greensboro.com/community/rockingham_now/rockinghams-diverse-economy-boosts-growth/article_1f6ec82a-cfb7-11ec-a0a9-63ff01b4020d.html| access-date = January 4, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/city-of-eden-in-plans-to-revitalize-downtown-area/83-313644175|title=City of Eden In Plans to Revitalize Downtown Area|date=March 30, 2015|website=WFMYnews2.com|access-date=August 27, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://myfox8.com/news/historic-hotel-in-eden-is-key-to-downtown-rebirth/|title=Historic hotel in Eden is key to downtown rebirth|last=Ewing|first=Charles|date=March 12, 2021|website=Fox8 WGHP|access-date=August 28, 2023}}</ref>

B. Frank Mebane, who had married into the prominent Morehead family, started the first of his six textile mills in the area in 1893. [[Marshall Field]] took over the company in 1912 and named it Fieldcrest. The company made textile products that included bedding: sheets and blankets. It employed more than 3000 people. After taking over [[Cannon Mills]] in 1986, the company became known as [[Fieldcrest Cannon]]; it later moved its headquarters and 110 employees to [[Kannapolis, North Carolina]]. Changes and restructuring were affecting the textile industry throughout the South, as companies moved manufacturing operations to areas with cheaper labor, including offshore.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://greensboro.com/fieldcrest-cannon-closing-eden-plant/article_5a71b3f1-9408-5b58-99af-0b179130ef24.html|title=Fieldcrest Cannon Closing Eden Plant|last=Reynolds|first=Jane|date=October 4, 1996|website=[[Greensboro News & Record]]|access-date=August 27, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/08/business/business-people-fieldcrest-cannon-picks-a-quartercentury-man.html|title=Business People; Fieldcrest Cannon Picks A Quarter-Century Man|last=Ross|first=Philip|date=December 8, 1987|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=August 27, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://greensboro.com/eden-loses-fieldcrest-corporate-core/article_afa6798d-ef39-5b49-907c-82ed4ba24195.html|title=Eden Loses Fieldcrest Corporate Core|last=Cochran|first=John|date=December 13, 1992|website=[[Greensboro News & Record]]|access-date=August 27, 2023}}</ref>

In 1997 Fieldcrest Cannon was sold to [[Pillowtex]]. Pillowtex closed its Eden plants in 2003, laying off the last 495 textile workers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/mc00350/|title=Fieldcrest Mills architectural plans 1911-1979|publisher=[[North Carolina State University]]|access-date=June 24, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2005/10/24/tidbits1.html|title=Eden changes its tune for the better|last=Catanoso|first=Justin|work=[[Triad Business Journal]]|date=October 24, 2005|access-date=June 24, 2016}}</ref>

[[Miller Brewing Company]] ran a brewery in Eden into the early 21st century. In 2012 it still employed nearly seven hundred people, and produced nine million barrels annually.<ref>{{cite web|title=Locations|url=http://www.millercoors.com/Who-We-Are/Locations.aspx|publisher=Miller Brewing Company|access-date=September 23, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013211952/http://www.millercoors.com/Who-We-Are/Locations.aspx|archive-date=October 13, 2012}}</ref> Miller announced in 2015 that it was shutting down the brewery by September 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://myfox8.com/2015/09/14/millercoors-to-close-rockingham-county-plant/|title=MillerCoors to close Rockingham County plant|date=September 14, 2015}}</ref> In September 2020, it was announced [[Nestle Purina]] will move into the old MillerCoors facility and will open in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://myfox8.com/news/nestle-purina-petcare-will-create-300-jobs-in-rockingham-county/|title=Nestlé Purina PetCare will create 300 jobs in Rockingham County|date=September 30, 2020|website=[[WGHP|WGHP Fox 8]]|access-date=September 7, 2021}}</ref>

In February 2017, it was announced that the European-based German grocery store [[Lidl]] had broken ground on a store in Eden. It was expected to open in early 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.greensboro.com/townnews/commerce/german-grocer-lidl-breaks-ground-in-eden/article_aecce654-ecb5-11e6-b7e7-e39155ff5b76.html|title=German grocer Lidl breaks ground in Eden|last=Hunt|first=Gerri|date=February 8, 2017|newspaper=News&Record|access-date=February 17, 2017|via=Www.greensboro.com}}</ref> As of April, 2019, the store had not opened.<ref>[https://www.lidl.com/stores Grocery Store Locator] Lidl. Retrieved 18 April 2019.</ref>

In 1980, the Eden Mall, an approximately 400,000 square feet shopping center, was constructed. The mall began to decline in the late 1990s when its [[Kmart (United States)|Kmart]] store closed. More stores began to shut down, culminating in the departures of [[Peebles (store)|Peebles]] in 2008 and [[Belk]] in 2015. The mall's physical condition deteriorated over the following years. It was sold in 2013 and subsequently leased out to local businesses.<ref>{{cite news| last = Davis| first = Jonelle| title = For some local malls, it's either reinvent or become irrevelant &#91;sic&#93;| newspaper = News & Record| date = October 6, 2013| url = https://www.greensboro.com/business/for-some-local-malls-it-s-either-reinvent-or-become/article_989e3674-2ebf-11e3-a369-001a4bcf6878.html| access-date = January 3, 2020}}</ref> In the late 2010s, the mall gained media attention and became an example of a "[[Dead mall]]" due to lack of stores in the mall and had no anchors left,<ref>{{citation|last = Bell| first = Dan| title = DEAD MALL SERIES: FROM THE 80s to the 70s - Galleria at Erieview OHIO Eden Mall NC|url = https://youtube.com/lGXzE-V61qw| access-date = December 20, 2023| date = September 28, 2017}}</ref> the mall closed to the public in early 2020s.