Jean Béliveau left his mark in Coaticook… without him knowing it! Coaticook's Progress

HOCKEY. Big Bill work clothes might not exist today, at least under this name, without the hockey player Jean Béliveau.

In 1946, Charles-Émile Audet founded the brand "Gros Bill in honor of his favorite hockey player, who sadly passed away on December 2. “Gros Bill was the nickname of Jean Béliveau and my great-grandfather wanted to pay tribute to him in his own way, recalls the director of the Codet company, Jobin Audet. At the time, he had created two clothing lines, that of the Gros Bill and the Rocket.

A few years later, the name "Gros Bill" was anglicized for "Big Bill", the brand we now know today. “We wanted to break into the Ontario market. If we kept our name, it gave “Gros Bill” (saying in English), which was like saying “Dirty Bill””, recalls Mr. Audet, laughing.

Of course, the entire Codet and Big Bill clothing team was saddened to learn of the death of this great ambassador of the Montreal Canadiens. "We always wanted to meet him to tell him our story, but it never happened," says Jobin Audet.

Today, Codet employs some 450 people in its two plants in Coaticook. It also has businesses in Richmond and Colebrook, New Hampshire, in addition to two distribution centers in Magog and Newport, Vermont.