The Manufacture you can visit is located in the former premises of the company Craye et fils founded in 1914 by Israel Jean-Baptiste Craye and specialized in the manufacture of upholstery fabrics. In the 1960's, the company, which produced mainly velvets, carpets and jacquard fabrics, specialized in the mechanical production of medieval Flemish tapestries.
In 1992, as sales decreased, the family business was taken over by Mr. Persyn, CEO of the Belgian group Flemish Tapestries. The new purchaser created, in 2001, a jacquard museum (housed in an unoccupied weaving workshop) which he named the Manufacture of Flanders. In 2009, the group relocated its production to Belgium and ceased its activity on the museum site. The collections were then donated to the city of Roubaix, that also purchased the buildings. After a phase of renovation, the museum, renamed "The Manufacture, Museum of Memory and Textile Creation" reopened its doors in 2015.