Kenmore is an American brand of household appliances, cookware, floorcare, grills, HVAC equipment and other home items owned and licensed by Transformco, an affiliate of ESL Investments.[1] Previously they were a subsidiary brand of Sears Holdings, but after Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018 [2] they were acquired by Transformco, formed in 2019 after acquiring the assets of Sears Holdings Corporation.
The brand first appeared on a four-drawer drop feed sewing machine sold from 1913 to 1919.[5] The first Kenmore washing machine was introduced in 1927.[6] The first Kenmore vacuum cleaners were introduced in 1932.
In 1976, Sears expanded the Kenmore name to its line of refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers, which were previously branded as Coldspot.
In July 2017, Sears announced that it will stock Kenmore products on Amazon, and also support integration between its appliances and Amazon Alexa.[8][9][10]
In April 2018, Sears CEO and major investor Edward Lampert, along with his hedge fund ESL, offered to buy the brand along with Sears Home Services in order to diversify Sears’ already-strained assets. The hope of spinning off a stable asset, according to Lampert, is to increase capital in Sears’ portfolio, which would filter down into the stores, thus providing much needed income for the Sears brand.[11] Lampert revised his offer to buy Kenmore in August 2018 for $400 million and without Sears' Home Services division.[12] On October 14, 2018, Sears' parent company Sears Holdings filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection leaving the future of the Kenmore brand undecided. Sears will continue to sell Kenmore products and honor warranties while it undergoes restructuring.[13] With the demise of Sears Canada, Kenmore products are no longer sold in Canada, but existing warranty for Whirlpool-made Kenmore lines continued to be honored.[14] A number[quantify] of Canadian parts suppliers[who?] continue[when?] to provide Kenmore parts previously sold by Sears Canada. Some Kenmore products are also being individually resold online in 2021.[citation needed]
Manufacturers
Whirlpool was one of the main manufacturers of Kenmore products, has a market cap or net worth of $6.14 billion as of December 2023[15] Whirlpool has manufactured some of Kenmore’s electrical appliances, such as side-by-side refrigerators, top-loading washing machines and matching dryers, and dishwashers.
But in 2017 the 100 years partnership between Whirlpool and Sears Holdings ended, with Sears claiming that Whirlpool "was making demands that would have make it difficult to sell the Kenmore products at competitive prices."[16]
Whirlpool is not the only manufacturer of Kenmore products. Kenmore also outsources its products to different OEM (original equipment manufacturer) companies, such as LG, Daewoo Electronics, Panasonic, and others.
Products
Various Kenmore kitchen stoves and other appliances at a Sears Outlet store.
Kenmore's upscale line of products is known as the Elite line. Kenmore also has a professional line of appliances called Kenmore Pro.
As of January 2019, the Kenmore brand had over 50 products listed as top performers on the non-profit website Consumer Reports.[17]
