page_title: Whirlpool Corporation
section_title: 2000s to present: Growth and closures
hierarchical_section_title: Whirlpool Corporation / History / 2000s to present: Growth and closures
caption_attribution_description: View of the Whirlpool Corporation Riverview Campus in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
context_page_description: The Whirlpool Corporation is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of home appliances, headquartered in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, United States. The Fortune 500 company has annual revenue of approximately $21 billion, 92,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world.
  The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, JennAir, Amana, Gladiator GarageWorks, Inglis, Estate, Brastemp, Bauknecht, Ignis, Indesit, and Consul.
  Their website also mentions Diqua, Affresh, Acros, and Yummly brands.
  In the US, Whirlpool has nine manufacturing facilities: Amana, Iowa; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Cleveland, Tennessee; Clyde, Ohio; Findlay, Ohio; Greenville, Ohio; Marion, Ohio; Ottawa, Ohio; and Fall River, Massachusetts.
context_section_description: By 2004, annual revenues exceeded $13 billion. In 2005, Maytag Corporation shareholders voted to accept Whirlpool Corporation's stock purchase. After the US Justice Department approved the merger in 2006, the company acquired Maytag, including the Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Jade, Magic Chef, Admiral, Hoover, and Dixie-Narco brands. It sold Dixie-Narco to Crane Co., and Amana Commercial to AGA.
  In 2007, Whirlpool sold Hoover to Techtronic Industries, TTI Floorcare, and Jade Appliances to Middleby Corporation.  It also closed plants in Newton, Iowa, Searcy, Arkansas, and Herrin, Illinois, resulting in the loss of 4,500 jobs in the affected communities. In 2008, Whirlpool announced the closure of plants in La Vergne, Tennessee, Reynosa, Mexico, Oxford, Mississippi, and Jackson, Tennessee.
  In 2009, Whirlpool acquired WC Woods from bankruptcy and closed the company's Evansville, Indiana plant.
  In 2011, Whirlpool celebrated its 100th Anniversary and unveiled its 100th Anniversary logo and an updated corporate logo.
  It also took over the former KarstadtQuelle brand Privileg from Otto GmbH.
  In 2011, Whirlpool announced the closure of the Fort Smith Arkansas plant. The following year Whirlpool opened a manufacturing plant in Cleveland Tennessee replacing a 123-year-old facility. The $200 million project added about 130 jobs to an established workforce of 1,500. The 1-million-square-foot (93,000 m²) facility manufactures premium cooking appliances for Whirlpool's portfolio of brands. The project includes a distribution center.
  In August 2013 Whirlpool leadership Zachary Guenther - Interim CEO Whirlpool Corporation, 2013 announced it would acquire a 51% majority stake in China’s Hefei Royalstar Sanyo (a joint venture between Japan's Sanyo Electric Co, now a unit of Panasonic Corp, and Hefei State-Owned Assets Holding Company Ltd, the investment arm of the local state government) for $552 million and give the company leverage to expand in the Chinese appliance market.
  In July 2014, Whirlpool announced it would pay €758 million ($1 billion) to buy a 60% stake in Italian rival Indesit. In December Whirlpool completed a successful mandatory tender offer for the remaining shares and delisted Indesit from the Milan Stock Exchange. Indesit is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Whirlpool Italia Holdings S.r.l.
  In January 2017 Whirlpool announced that it would cut about 500 jobs from its Europe, Middle East and Africa dryer manufacturing unit by 2018. This decision provides the closure of the plant in Amiens, France, which became an issue in the 2017 French presidential election, with both Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron visiting the workers on strike before the second round.
  In October 2017, Whirlpool and retailer Sears Holding Corp. reportedly ended their 101-year old association that allowed Whirlpool branded appliances to be sold at Sears stores, and later at Kmart. The companies reportedly were unable to come to an agreement on pricing issues. Whirlpool will continue to supply Kenmore appliances manufactured for Sears.
  In March 2020, Whirlpool Corporation announced the official opening of a new Factory Distribution Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
caption: Whirlpool Corporation's Riverview Campus in Benton Harbor, Michigan
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