Class 2001
Jane and Jack Fitzpatrick
Jane and Jack Fitzpatrick combined artistic talent, managerial skill, and their willingness to take huge risks to create and grow a vibrant, highly successful curtain company and an internationally known country inn.
Jane and Jack’s story started in 1956 when Jane was making ruffled, unbleached muslin curtains out of their home. They placed an ad in a Boston newspaper and their mail-order company, Country Curtains, took off. At that time, Jack was a retail manager and Jane took care of all the curtain orders. As the business grew, Jack and Jane enlisted the help of various family members. Jack eventually began managing Country Curtains full time. They advertised the company in national magazines and, over time, developed a full color catalog.
The business outgrew their home very rapidly and the Fitzpatricks had to find a larger location. In 1968, the Fitzpatricks purchased the 1773 Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge. The curtain business occupied a space in the Inn. Before long, Country Curtains needed even more space, so they built a new location for the business a few miles down the road from the Inn. The Fitzpatricks formed a retail company that is now comprised of shops on the east coast from New Hampshire to Virginia, and from Boston to Chicago.
Jack and Jane also created the Housatonic Curtain Company, located close to Stockbridge, where seamstresses and home-stitchers from surrounding villages worked on a variety of curtain designs and orders.
In the 1970s while Jack served several terms in the State Senate, Jane, and their daughters Ann and Nancy, ran the Inn and the curtain business.
Jack and Jane are extremely committed to a high quality product and exceptional service. They now employ over 1,200 people in Berkshire County. They recently sold one of their businesses to their employees through an employee stock option plan to ensure that the business stayed in the community. The Fitzpatricks, a very philanthropic family, are involved in many charitable organizations in the area.
Jack, Jane, and their daughters epitomize what it means to be entrepreneurs. Their drive, work ethic, high quality craftsmanship/service, and willingness to take risks enabled them to achieve their goals and dreams.
We are proud to induct Jane and Jack Fitzpatrick into the Western Massachusetts Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame.