History Wangaratta Woollen Mills, on the site that it is today, was officially opened in August 1923 producing high quality worsted yarns and was soon acknowledged to be the most progressive spinner of high quality knitting yarns, growing to become Australia's largest mainland mill. Since that date, many changes have taken place which in 1991, resulted in the formation of Australian Country Spinners (ACS) through the merger of Wangaratta Woollen Mills, Cleckheaton and Panda Yarns. In 1998, ACS experienced further growth with the acquisition of Yarra Falls and in 2000 ACS acquired Patons Australia and Shepherd of New Zealand. In 2012, Saleutions was integrated into ACS offering retailers "retail ready" solutions in hand knitting yarn. During the 90th birthday celebrations in August 2013, Australian Country Spinners and Australian wool enthusiasts set a new world record for the world's longest Pom Pom Garland for the Guinness Book of Records. The final tally was an incredible 6977 pom poms strung in one continuous garland. Today, the business employs around 100 people both at the Mill in Wangaratta and in the pattern, design and marketing teams in Melbourne. ACS supports over 1000 retailers across Australia and New Zealand with it's range of hand knitting yarns and patterns across the four brands: Cleckheaton, Panda, Patons and Shepherd.