. price pfister type subsidiary industry sink and plumbing fixtures founded 1910 founder emil price william pfister parent spectrum brands holdings incorporated website http www.pfisterfaucets.com pfister formerly called price pfister until 2010 is a manufacturer of bathroom and lavatory faucets shower systems showerheads and accessories and kitchen faucets and other plumbing fixtures . emil price and william pfister founded the company in 1910 . today price pfister is owned by spectrum brands holdings incorporated hardware and home improvement group . contents 1 history 1.1 pacoima plant closure 1.2 spectrum brands holdings incorporated 2 products 3 references 4 external links history edit price pfister was founded by emil price and william pfister in los angeles 1 in 1910 2 when the company introduced its first product a garden faucet . over the next decade the price pfister s product line expanded to include other types of faucets valves and hose nozzles for indoor sinks and bathtubs . aside from producing plumbing fixtures during wwi and wwii price pfister produced military items such as aircraft fittings and hand grenade shells . during the postwar housing boom in the late 1940s price pfister began to specialize in residential products . the company became a household name after the widespread popularity of their crown jewel faucet line in 1950 . from 1960 1970 price pfister accelerated in growth starting with the construction of a 25 acres 100 000 m2 manufacturing plant in pacoima california which became the largest foundry west of the mississippi . toward late 1960s norris industries inc. acquired price pfister and renamed it to price pfister brass manufacturing company . price pfister is still remembered for its tagline playing off the distinctive company name price pfister the pfabulous pfaucet with the pfunny name . by 1987 price pfister had gained 14 % of the u.s. faucet market . two years later price pfister was acquired by the black and decker corporation . in 1994 price pfister became the first manufacturer to convert to ceramic cartridges which enabled the industry s first lifetime guarantee against leaks and drips . 2 pacoima plant closure edit in january 1996 price pfister agreed to a 2.4 million settlement in a california lawsuit against their manufacturing method 3 which introduced amounts of lead into their faucets that were in excess of those legally allowed under california s safe drinking water and toxic enforcement act of 1986 . 4 the state sued more than 20 faucet manufacturers with lab tests showing that price pfister had the second highest amount of lead in their faucets . 4 they were forced to change their process from antiquated sand casting to machining which is more expensive . 3 rival manufacturer chicago faucets still used sand casting as well but switched to using bismuth over lead as a sealing alloy allowing them to keep jobs within the united states . 4 other rivals such as delta had long since switched their u.s. plants to more advanced forms of manufacturing . 4 in 1996 price pfister shut down its foundry in the u.s. as they began moving jobs over into mexico laying off 300 of the 1200 u.s. jobs at their plant in pacoima california . 3 to protest the layoffs and limited severance packages ten of the workers went on hunger strikes and on day ten of the strike one of them collapsed and required medical attention . the company blamed the cutbacks on state regulations that limited the amount of lead allowed in faucets . 5 a local labor activist group leader stated that the company was using environmental issues as a scapegoat since rival companies had already managed to improve their manufacturing within the u.s. 4 the teamsters local negotiator claimed that the move was due in part to the cheaper cost of labor over in mexico stating that the wages at the plant were 17 an hour including benefits while in mexico the wages were 1 or less . 6 the new president ron cooper stated that the remaining 900 jobs might soon be moved as well since the pacoima plant would be too large for their needs . regardless of where they moved the 450 factory workers would be laid off and a new staff would be hired . 4 in march 1997 price pfister moved more of its manufacturing operations from the pacoima plant over to mexicali mexico laying off approximately 300 u.s. workers . many of the former workers protested the layoffs outside the plant and later called for a boycotting of price pfister while protesting a nearby home depot a home improvement store that sold price pfister products . 7 8 the pacoima plant closed down completely in 1997 . in 2005 lowe s planned to build a home improvement store on the lot of the former plant . la weekly writer steven mikulan said that the move was ironic the plant used to serve as a hub where u.s. made price pfister products were shipped out from and the place would instead now be selling those items received from elsewhere . the plant was once the city s largest employer and left the area with severe amounts of pollution . after its closing a survey found that 28 % of nearby residents had chronic respiratory problems . 9 spectrum brands holdings incorporated edit joining kwikset security hardware in 1999 price pfister and kwikset formed the black and decker hardware and home improvement group based in lake forest california . following the 2010 stanley acquisition of black and decker 10 price pfister is now part of the stanley black and decker hardware and home improvement group . following the merger price pfister changed its name to simply pfister . on october 9 2012 the wall street journal reported that stanley black & decker had agreed to sell its hardware and home improvement group including pfister to spectrum brands holdings incorporated . the acquisition was completed on december 17 2012 for 1.4 billion . 11 products edit pfister s retail bath and kitchen fixtures are available in major hardware and home improvement stores and showrooms throughout the country . besides residential products pfister also manufactures a custom designed fixture faucet line pfister custom faucet solutions for the hospitality industry . references edit price pfister inc. history . funding universe . retrieved february 14 2016 . a b http www.pricepfister.com about timeline.aspx price pfister history a b c adamson deborah nov 22 1996 . hunger strike starts laid off workers protest job loss at price pfister . . los angeles daily news . a b c d e f stavro barry oct 1 1996 . pacoima may lose fixture as factory shifts jobs south . los angeles times . hayes dade dec 1 1996 . laid off price pfister worker ends hunger strike after collapse . los angeles times . somerville sean nov 23 1996 . b & d moving jobs to mexico 200 slots in calif. cut earlier this year . the baltimore sun . sandoval greg mar 24 1997 . 300 protest terms of price pfister layoffs . los angeles times . hayes dade apr 4 1997 . laid off employees plan national boycott . los angeles times . mikulan steven sep 22 2005 . pacoima s lot . la weekly . stanley works buying black & decker . marketwatch . 2009 11 02 . retrieved 2014 04 24 . https web.archive.org web 20130729180351 http finance.yahoo.com news spectrum brands holdings completes acquisition 210000283.html . archived from the original on july 29 2013 . retrieved may 12 2013 . missing or empty title help external links edit price pfister homepage v t e spectrum brands global batteries & appliances rayovac varta remington black & decker home george foreman juiceman breadman russell hobbs farberware toastmaster hardware & home improvement kwikset baldwin weiser pfister stanley hardware national hardware ez set fanal tell manufacturing united industrial corporation spectracide cutter hot shot black flag repel liquid fence garden safe united pet group marineland instant ocean jungle tetra dingo furminator nature s miracle perfect coat lazy pet pro sense excel m2n kookamunga wonderbox one earth wild harvest ecotrition noztonoz petnation healthy hide digesteeze littermaid armored autogroup armor all stp a c pro retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title pfister firm & oldid 737643674 categories plumbing materials companiesvalve manufacturersstanley black & decker brandsmanufacturing companies based in californiacompanies based in lake forest californiamanufacturing companies established in 19101910 establishments in californiapacoima los angelesamerican brandshidden categories pages with citations lacking titlespages with citations having bare urls navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial 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