corporation type subsidiary of whirlpool corporation founded 1893 as maytag washing machine company newton iowa products appliances revenue us 4.7 billion parent whirlpool corporation subsidiaries admiral amana jenn air magic chef etc. website www.maytag.com former headquarters of the maytag corporation newton iowa antique maytag washing machine . 1928 maytag model 90 wringer washer completely restored 1935 maytag model 30 wringer washer the maytag corporation is an american home and commercial appliance brand owned by whirlpool corporation after the april 2006 acquisition of maytag . contents 1 company history 1.1 chronology 2 owned brands 3 products 4 maytag international 5 manufacturing plants 6 ol lonely 7 see also 8 references 9 external links company history edit the maytag washing machine company was founded in 1893 by businessman frederick maytag . in 1925 the maytag washing machine company became maytag inc. during the great depression of the 1930s the company was one of the few to actually make a profit in successive years . in 1938 maytag provoked strikes by the company s workers because of a 10 % pay cut . 1 the company was able to beat the strike because of the intervention of four military companies including a machine gun company of the 113th cavalry regiment iowa national guard . 2 at his father s death in 1940 fred maytag ii grandson of the founder took over the presidency . during world war ii the company participated in war production by making special components for military equipment . in 1946 production of washing machines was resumed ; in 1949 the first automatic washers were produced in a new dedicated factory . in 1946 maytag began marketing a separate line of ranges and refrigerators made by other companies under the maytag name . during the korean war the company again produced parts for military equipment although washing machine production continued . during the 1950s the white goods or laundry and kitchen appliance industry grew rapidly . maytag first entered the commercial laundry field at this time manufacturing washers and dryers for commercial self service laundries and commercial operators . in response other full line appliance producers began to compete with maytag in the white goods consumer market . these included full line manufacturers such as whirlpool general electric and frigidaire who built not only washing machines and dryers but also refrigerators stoves and other appliances . since maytag was much smaller than the full line producers the company decided to limit itself to the manufacture of washers and dryers alongside marketing ovens and refrigerators built by other companies as a small premium brand manufacturer . the company capitalized on its reputation by renaming its corporate address in newton iowa one dependability square . by 1960 maytag had ceased marketing ovens and refrigerators but later began once again to expand into kitchen appliances with its own design of portable kitchen dishwasher and a line of food waste disposers . upon the death of fred maytag ii the last family member involved in the company s management e. g. higdon was named president of the company with george m. umbreit becoming chairman and ceo . by the late 1970s over 70 percent of u.s. households were equipped with washers and dryers and with approximately 18 000 employees worldwide the company was established as a dominant manufacturer of large laundry appliances . after the company s acquisition of magic chef inc. in 1986 a move which nearly doubled its size the company acquired a new corporate name maytag corporation . in 1989 maytag acquired chicago pacific corporation . chicago pacific corporation owned hoover us and hoover uk as well as thomasville brand furniture . maytag quickly sold off the thomasville furniture brand . maytag corporation led by chairman daniel krumm next planned to make maytag a worldwide organization . 3 the uk part of hoover was to help maytag expand into europe . hoover uk was not doing well financially and offered customers a round trip ticket anywhere if they purchased a vacuum . this campaign cost the corporation 50 million to settle . subsequently maytag sold off hoover uk . this was a huge setback for the amount of cash maytag had in hand and thus started the downward spiral financially . in 1991 maytag built a new plant in jackson tennessee for the manufacture of newly designed plastic tub dishwashers . the plastic tub was developed in newton iowa but in 1996 engineering was transferred to jackson because mr. len hadley then president of maytag corporation wanted the plant to be self sufficient . this engineering team engineered a stainless steel dishwasher tall tub plastic and tall tub stainless steel product . engineering crescendoed with a double drawer dishwasher which today is manufactured in findlay ohio at the whirlpool plant the only maytag legacy product built in the whirlpool appliance line up . the jackson plant evolved into a streamlined manufacturing facility that could build thousands of dishwashers daily on multiple lines . this plant was the most efficient plant and was a hallmark for other facilities . whirlpool closed this plant . in 1997 maytag corporation purchased g.s. blodgett corporation . blodgett made ovens for major pizza companies at the time of this purchase maytag was looking at the turbo chef line they had been working on up to this point . prior to 1997 the maytag engineering team at maytag laundry appliances research and development developed the maytag neptune line of front load washers . 4 a matching dryer was introduced to accompany the new washer . the company claimed that the new neptune model saved energy costs over traditional washer dryer sets . production of the neptune line was later switched to samsung electronics . in 2001 the company acquired the amana corporation and its appliance assembly facilities . that same year ralph f. hake became the last chairman and chief executive officer ceo of maytag corporation serving in that post until march 2006 . once renowned as the standard for laundry appliances by 2003 the company faced increasing competition from new appliance brands in the us market as well as from existing appliance manufacturers who had outsourced production a decade earlier in order to reduce costs . 5 6 while maytag had begun the process of shifting appliance production to lower cost assembly plants outside the united states in 2004 the company was still producing 88 percent of its products in older u.s. based factories . 7 in an apparent move away from traditional company marketing strategy company management decided on a plan to stimulate consumer purchases of new maytag appliances before their old ones had worn out . 8 costs incurred in maytag s acquisition and integration of amana and an increased corporate debt load led to aggressive internal cost cutting efforts in direct materials manufacturing and distribution costs . 7 9 maytag introduced a value priced appliance line under a separate label performa by maytag . to increase sales the company also marketed maytag branded legacy series washing machines that were otherwise identical to low end amana models and built at the formerly amana assembly plant in herrin illinois . the rebranded maytag models later termed amanatags by dissatisfied owners received poor customer reviews after reports surfaced of major mechanical and or durability problems . 10 11 the company also consolidated warehouse operations and cut the number of maytag vendors . between 2002 and 2004 maytag corporate management cut new product investment by 50 % . 7 an increasing chorus of consumer complaints concerning product reliability and customer service assisted by the rapid growth of internet consumer forums began to affect the company s reputation with customers . 12 13 14 15 the company was also slow to react to customer complaints regarding its flagship neptune washer and dryer line labeled the stinkomatic by dissatisfied customers because they would become moldy in a way that could not be easily cleaned resulting in further damage to the company s reputation and a 33.5 million payout to settle several class action lawsuits arising from the neptune problems . 16 17 18 19 by 2005 maytag s market share had declined to all time lows sales were flat and customer satisfaction surveys ranked maytag near the bottom of the appliance field . 7 the problems with the neptune line continued ; in 2007 250 000 neptune washing machines became part of a nationwide safety recall by the consumer product safety commission due to fire danger . 20 in 2005 haier sought to expand its share of foreign markets by acquiring rival white goods oems and by expanding overseas production capacity . with backing from two large u.s. private equity funds haier made a bid to acquire u.s. appliance maker maytag for 1.28 billion . the bid failed and maytag was bought by whirlpool for 1.7 billion . 21 on april 1 2006 whirlpool completed its acquisition of maytag corporation . in may 2006 whirlpool announced plans to close the former maytag headquarters office in newton as well as laundry product manufacturing plants in newton iowa ; herrin illinois ; and searcy arkansas by 2007 . 22 following the maytag headquarters closure all brand administration was transferred to whirlpool s headquarters in benton harbor michigan . the maytag name would now be used on whirlpool designed appliances . most maytag employees were terminated but some were offered jobs at whirlpool . the board of directors of maytag all received five years severance pay . citation needed former maytag chairman and ceo ralph f. hake received two years base salary and two years target bonus under his severance agreement . 23 museum exhibit in amberley museum . hotpoint maytag gyrofoam washing machine circa 1927 on january 1 2009 maytag under the ownership of the whirlpool corp. changed the vested lifetime benefits of the maytag retirees . there is a lawsuit pending in the southern district court of iowa where whirlpool has asked for permission to change the uaw bargained benefits . the benefits in question were subsequently changed despite any resolution of the lawsuit . chronology edit year event 1893 frederick louis maytag his two brothers in law and george w. parsons each contributed 600 for a total of 2 400 to start a new farm implement company named parsons band cutter & self feeder company . they produced threshing machines band cutters and self feeder attachments invented by parsons . 1893 threshing machine related injuries were all too common and a strong need for a safer threshing machine was present . the company successfully met this need by developing a threshing machine feeder a device which fed straw more safely into the threshing cylinder . 1902 the company was the largest feeder manufacturer in the world and by 1904 the ruth was the most popular model . 1905 maytag introduced the success corn husker and shredder . 1907 maytag s first washing machine the pastime was produced . f.l. maytag decided to produce these machines during the periods of seasonally related downturns in farm implement sales . the pastime washers used a wooden tub . a dolly was turned by a hand crank via wooden pegs . this turning action would pull clothes through the water and force the clothes along the corrugated tub sides producing cleaning action . a pulley allowed the machine to be operated from an outside power source such as a tractor or a windmill . 1911 a model of the pastime with an electric motor was unveiled . 1915 maytag developed its multi motor gasoline engine washer . this allowed customers in rural areas without electricity to utilize the automatic washers . 1919 the first aluminum washer tub was produced by maytag . prior to this it had been believed in the industry that aluminum tub washers could not be built . this aluminum tub proved to have numerous advantages over the wooden tub which had issues with leaking and rotting . 1920 l.