Founded by William “Bill” Harris in 1958, Harris Pillow Supply began as a franchise of Fluff ‘n Puff Pillow Service in Chicago. Bill traveled around the area, cleaning pillows at hotels, nursing homes, hospitals, colleges and other businesses. When Fluff ‘n Puff filed for bankruptcy in 1959, Bill purchased their remaining pillow cleaning machine inventory. He then began sewing his own ticking and selling the pillow cleaning machines to laundry service businesses and dry cleaners. He later redesigned the pillow machine, creating the Pillow-Vac; a machine that Harris Pillow still manufactures and sells today.

In 1979, Bill’s son John Harris joined Harris Pillow Supply. In 1980, they sold the mobile cleaning business in Chicago and relocated Harris Pillow to Beaufort, South Carolina, where they continued to manufacture the Pillow-Vac and sew pillow ticking for clients which included mostly military bases and dry cleaners. 

In the early 1990s, Harris Pillow diversified and started manufacturing pillows for hotels and interior designers. In 2004, John’s son Patrick Harris joined the team. All three generations worked together for several years before Bill retired. John and Patrick continued to work together until John retired in 2023. Patrick continues to run and diversify the family business with a dedicated team, some of whom have worked at Harris Pillow for almost 40 years.