Valley-Dynamo, Inc. is a gaming and sporting goods manufacturing company. It has been the dominant manufacturer of coin-operated pool tables in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

for over 6 decades, and produces the US-ubiquitous Valley brand and decreasingly common Dynamo brand (once a competitor). The company also manufactures other market-leader brand names, including Tornado brand table football (foosball), Dynamo air hockey, and Champion indoor shuffleboard tables, as well as Sun Glo shuffleboard equipment, for both the home and coin-op markets. The company has distributors in some two dozen countries. Annual sales were up to

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

15–17 mil, as of May 2009.

History

As Valley Co., the original company was founded by Earl Feddick in 1947 in Bay City, Michigan, where it remained under the auspices of a series of controlling companies including Kidde Inc., U.S. Industries, and

Fenway Partners Fenway Partners is an American private equity firm that makes leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in transportation, logistics, consumer products, and manufacturing companies in the middle market. In 2002 Fenway acquired the molding ...

with Rickett still the majority shareholder. In 1999, then known as Valley Recreation Products, Valley absorbed and merged with both Tornado Table Sports and Dynamo Corp., and centralized operations at the Dynamo facilities in Richland Hills, Texas (a Dallas-Ft. Worth suburb). The increasingly market-dominant enterprise was bought for

34.5 million by, and was made a subsidiary of, Brunswick Corporation in 2003, as Valley-Dynamo LLC. Brunswick moved Valley-Dynamo's manufacturing operations to Reynosa, Mexico in 2006. In 2009, Valley-Dynamo "was acquired by a limited partnership controlled by Kelye Stites," owner of Champion Shuffleboard Ltd., "and other businesses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area." The sale amount was not disclosed, but was rumored to be surprisingly low ($3 to 5 million). Stites, the son-in-law of Valley Co. founder Rickett, decided to move pool and air hockey table production from Mexico back to Texas. Under the new partnership, in which Stites is the majority owner, Valley-Dynamo absorbed Champion's shuffleboard brand rather than vice versa, with Stites citing Valley-Dynamo's widespread brand name recognition.

Leagues

Valley created, and wholly owns the international amateur

Valley National 8-Ball League Association The Valley National 8-Ball League Association (VNEA) A one-page flyer distributed by the organization at events. is one of the world's largest amateur pool leagues. , there are nearly 100,000 individual members in some 1,400 weekly local leagues ...

(VNEA). All VNEA matches must be played on Operator/Charter Holder owned pool tables only. The company also founded the

Valley International Foosball Association The Valley International Foosball Association (VIFA) is an American "association of coin machine operators, foosball table manufacturer and foosball players, working together to provide increased interest in the game of foosball". The league is he ...

(VIFA). The majority of American Poolplayers Association (APA) matches are also played on Valley-Dynamo tables, including the APA International Championships, although APA has no rules with regard to what brand or size of table is used.

References

{{Reflist Cue sports equipment manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1947 Companies based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Manufacturing companies based in Texas Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States Brunswick Corporation Air hockey Table shuffleboard 1947 establishments in Michigan Entertainment companies established in 1947