Cutco Corporation, formerly Alcas Corporation, is an American company that sells knives, predominantly through

direct sales Direct selling consists of single-level marketing (in which a direct seller makes money by buying products from a parent organization and selling them directly to customers) and multi-level marketing (in which the direct seller may earn money f ...

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

. It is the parent company of CUTCO Cutlery Corp.,

Vector Marketing Vector Marketing is a direct selling subsidiary company and the domestic sales arm of Cutco Corporation, an Olean, New York-based cutlery manufacturer. The company was founded in 1981 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company sells via ind ...

, Ka-Bar Knives, and Schilling Forge. Its primary brand is named Cutco. The company was founded in 1949 by

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

and

Case Cutlery W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company is an American manufacturer of traditional pocket knives, fixed blades/sporting knives, kitchen knives, limited edition commemoratives and collectibles. The company originated in Little Valley, New York, around th ...

(hence "Al-cas") to manufacture stainless steel knives for Alcoa's WearEver Cookware division. Alcoa purchased Case's share in the company in 1972, and Alcas became a separate private company in 1982 after a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

. In 1985, the company acquired Vector Marketing Corporation. In early 2009, Alcas changed its name to Cutco, the name of the primary product.

Products

Cutco is a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware), includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. The city of Sheffie ...

and kitchen accessories directly marketed to customers through in-home demonstrations by independent sales representatives who are mostly college students. More than 100 kitchen

products are sold under the Cutco name, as well as a variety of kitchen utensils,

cookware Cookware and bakeware is food preparation equipment, such as cooking pots, pans, baking sheets etc. used in kitchens. Cookware is used on a stove or range cooktop, while bakeware is used in an oven. Some utensils are considered both cookware ...

, sporting, and outdoor knives. Although the products are not typically purchased in retail stores, Cutco has opened six of its own retail stores:

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

;

Okemos, Michigan Okemos ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population of the CDP was 21,369 at the 2010 census. Okemos is located mostly within Meridian Charter Township, with a small portion extending sout ...

; St. Louis, Missouri; Novi, Michigan; Edina, Minnesota; and

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

. All of the company's knives and most of their other products are produced in

Olean, New York Olean ( ) is a city in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. Olean is the largest city in Cattaraugus County and serves as its financial, business, transportation and entertainment center. It is one of the principal cities of the Southern ...

, while other products are made in Mexico and China.

Vector Marketing

Vector Marketing is Cutco's

direct selling Direct selling consists of single-level marketing (in which a direct seller makes money by buying products from a parent organization and selling them directly to customers) and multi-level marketing (in which the direct seller may earn money f ...

subsidiary that builds its sales force through advertising via newspapers,

direct marketing Direct marketing is a form of communicating an offer, where organizations communicate directly to a pre-selected customer and supply a method for a direct response. Among practitioners, it is also known as ''direct response marketing''. B ...

word-of-mouth Word of mouth, or ''viva voce'', is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one pe ...

, posted advertisements,

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

, and various media on the internet. The company has been the subject of criticism and lawsuits for its deceptive recruiting and business practices, and has been accused of being a

company. Their fliers advertising "student work" are distributed in many high schools and

college campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

es across the United States and Canada. Students are hired to sell Cutco products (mainly

kitchen knives A kitchen knife is any knife that is intended to be used in food preparation. While much of this work can be accomplished with a few general-purpose knives – notably a large chef's knife, a tough cleaver, a small paring knife and some sort of ...

) to customers, starting with their friends and family, then branching out through recommendations, all through one-on-one demonstrations. While Vector required a deposit on the sample kit representatives were issued in the past, this was changed in 2011, and deposits are no longer required from representatives.Episode 10
Street Cents, January 14, 2002

References

External links

* {{Multi-level marketing Kitchen knife brands Retail companies established in 1949 Companies based in Cattaraugus County, New York Multi-level marketing companies 1949 establishments in New York (state) Knife manufacturing companies