It's no real secret that the brand name on an appliance doesn't tell you very much about who the manufacturer was. Just as with every other industry the last 20 years of the appliance world has been marked by a host of mergers and acquisitions. For the most part, who made your appliance doesn't really matter very much, but I think charts like this from Appliance 411 are helpful to have on hand when you're reading Consumer Reports or any other review source. When Consumer Reports praises a Kenmore range and then slams a hauntingly similar one from GE Profile it always makes me laugh. More often than not, such slams are directed at the brand and not the actual appliance. How could it be otherwise as the only difference a Kenmore and a GE Profile is the styling? Keep this chart handy of you're in the market for appliances. Note too that there's a link in the Sears category that jumps to Appliance 411's guide to the various manufacturers who actually make every Kenmore model on the market. Like I said, it's interesting.
| Manufacturer | Brand Name | ||
| Amana (recently owned by Maytag, now owned by Whirlpool) | Amana Caloric Danby ( 5 ) Econowash Glenwood Imperial ( microwave, refrigerator ) Litton Maytag ( washers with models starting SAV, NAV... ) Menu Master Modern Maid Speed Queen (older domestic models) Sunray Viking (US fridges except built-in models) | ||
| Fedders | Airtemp Climette ( current models ) Comfort-Aire ( window a/c's ) Comfortaire ( window a/c's ) Crosley ( some window a/c's ) Emerson Quiet Kool ( a/c's ) Fedders Hamptom Bay ( some a/c's ) Maytag ( window a/c's and dehumidifiers ) Microsonic | ||
| Frigidaire/Electrolux ~ non-USA brands below ~ | Affinity™ Airdryer ( dehumidifiers ) Capehart ( freezers & dehumidifiers ) Citation ( freezers ) Dometic (microwaves - serial number prefix "HG") Design Manufacturing ( D&M ) Electrolux Euroflair ( 1 ) Frigidaire Gallery General General Freezer Gibson Harvard Logic ( dehumidifiers & microwaves ) Kelvinator Kenmore ( see Sears below ) Icon Leonard O'keefe & Merritt Polaris ( freezers & dehumidifiers ) Roy Tappan Vesta White Westinghouse ( major appliances only ) | ||
| commercial products by Frigidaire/Electrolux | Arctic Air ( fridges and freezers ) ( 9 ) Edina ( refrigerators ) Edina Technical (freezers converted to pop machines) Fedpak (freezers converted to soft ice cream freezers) Imperial ( freezers ) ( 9,10 ) Venex (freezers converted to vending machines) | ||
| General Electric * | Amana (older dishwashers) Americana Beau*Mark ( most ) BeefEater Camco Concept II Eterna General Electric Hotpoint Kenmore ( see Sears below ) McClary Moffat Monogram ( 1 ) Profile RCA | ||
| In-Sink-Erator | Ace Hardware ( 6 ) Badger Crosley ( 6 ) Dayton ( 6 ) Emerson ( 6 ) Franke ( 6 ) Frigidaire ( 6,7 ) ISE (In-Sink-Erator) Kenmore ( 6 ) ( most ) KitchenAid ( 6,7 ) Master Plumber ( 6 ) Maytag ( 6 ) True Value ( 6 ) Whirlpool ( 6 ) Wolverine Brass ( 6 ) | ||
| Maytag Corp. (now owned by Whirlpool) | Admiral (USA) Atlantis Crosley (except a/c's, also see Whirlpool) Dynasty Gaffers and Sattler Gemini ( 1 ) Hardwick Jade Jade Range Jenn Air ( 3 ) Magic Chef (major appliances only) Maytag ( 2 ) Neptune ( 1 ) Norge | ||
| Sears * | Capri Coldspot Galaxy Kenmore OasisSears does not manufacture any of their products, instead they are all made by the other leading manufacturers, often with added features. They are then rebranded with the Kenmore (or other) brand name. Notably are: most laundry products and dishwashers made by Whirlpool, lower end front load washer and matching dryer by Frigidaire and many range models by GE.  See model number reference | ||
| Whirlpool * | Admiral (Canada) Chambers Coovert (ac's) Crosley (newer fridges, a/c's and all portable washers) Danby ( 8 ) Estate Inglis Ikea Kenmore ( see Sears ) KitchenAid ( 4 ) Kirkland Maytag Epic® Roper Speed Queen (Canada) Sub Zero (undercounter ice makers) Whirlpool | ||
| WC Wood | Amana ( older freezers ) ArticAire Country Squire Crosley ( freezers ) Danby ( freezers, some dehumidifiers ) Edison Electrohome (range hoods, humidifiers, dehumidifiers) Estate ( freezers ) Frost Queen KitchenAid ( freezers ) Maytag ( freezers ) Miami Carey (range hoods) Quickfreeze Quickfrez Roper ( freezers ) Sahara Whirlpool ( freezers ) | ||
| Electrolux (non-North American) |
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| Nordyne (HVAC products) |
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Thanks for the reference chart Paul. I printed it off.
ReplyDelete-Brenda-
P.S: I have owned some of 'the best' Sewing Machines and Sergers and have to admit, I am just as impressed by the Kenmore brand which I know is made by Janome.
There is no ginger-haired boy in the old-time photo. Also, there is a cereal box in the background labeled "Potato Chips." What the hey?
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated by the inner workings and insider information about anything, appliances included. When an appliance breaks, it's good to know who actually made it a lot of times. I'm glad you found it helpful Brenda.
ReplyDeleteKathy, the photo was from some woman's collection in Flickr. I can't claim ownership though I remember well a scene such as the one depicted. Although we were more prone to be melting army men in an Easy Bake. Just ask my brothers. Hah! The boxed potato chips caught my eye too. We always had them in a big can (that got delivered by the chip man no less). But a box? I'm curious to know where that photo was taken.