The story
William Carter was the founder of William Carter Company in 1865 in Needham, Massachusetts. William Carter (1830–1918) was born in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. He arrived in America on January 28, 1857. He married Martha Lee (1842-1873). They had four children: William Henry Carter (1864–1955), who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1915-1919) prior to being elected president of the William Carter Company in 1918; Mary Elizabeth Carter (1865-1961); John J. Carter (1867-1939); and Horace A. Carter (1869-1959). By the early 1960s, the William Carter Company manufactured at seven mills in Massachusetts and the South.
The Carter family sold the business in 1990.
In the early 2000s, Carter's reached an agreement with Target Corporation to create the "Just One You" spin-off clothing line, to be sold exclusively in Target stores. Carter's later created exclusive lines for retailers Walmart and Amazon. All of the brands sell similar articles of clothing, such as bodysuits, pajamas, and dresses, but each has its own design team and pricing policies specific to the retailer.
Carter's acquired competitor OshKosh B'gosh for $312 million in 2005.
In 2012, Carter's, Inc. announced that Braselton, Georgia would receive their 1-million-square-foot, $50 million distribution center that will support their e-commerce, retail, and wholesale businesses. The company hoped to create 1,000 jobs at the facility by 2015.
In February 2017, Carter's, Inc. acquired Skip Hop Inc., an infant and child product company based in New York, for $140 million in cash and up to $10 million in future payments contingent on reaching certain financial goals in 2017. Fireman Capital Partners, a private equity firm, had previously acquired a majority equity stake in Skip Hop Inc. for $50 million in November 2013.
In addition to selling its apparel through third-party retailers, Carter's operated 1,060 branded stores and outlets as of 2019, with plans to open up to another 100 stores in "mid-tier" shopping malls in the following years. A market research firm found that "Ninety percent of millennial parents — and 80 percent of baby boomer grandparents — have shopped at Carter's in the past year."
In April 2025, Carter's named former Vans executive Douglas Palladini as CEO and president. In May 2026, it was announced that Palladini was no longer with the company and Sharon Price John was named as new CEO and president, beginning June 16th. Prior to Carter's, John served as CEO and President of Build-A-Bear Workshop for 13 years.
From Wikipedia’s article on Carter's, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7