The Rival Company is an American manufacturer of small appliances that produces products under the Bionaire,

Crock-Pot A slow cooker, (also known as a crock-pot after a trademark owned by Sunbeam Products, but sometimes used generically in the English-speaking world), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance used to simmer at a lower temperature than ot ...

, Fasco, Patton, Pollenex, Rival, Simer, and White Mountain brands. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Holmes Products Corp. in 1999, and later became a brand of

Sunbeam Products Sunbeam Products is an American company founded in 1897 that has produced electric home appliances under the Sunbeam name since 1910. Its products have included the Mixmaster mixer, the Sunbeam CG waffle iron, Coffeemaster (1938–1964) and ...

, a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation, which purchased Holmes in 2005. Jarden, in turn, merged with Newell Rubbermaid in 2016. It is now part of the

Newell Brands Newell Brands Inc. is an American manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products. The company's brands and products include Rubbermaid storage/or waste disposal containers; home organization and reusable container ...

company. __TOC__

History

Rival was founded in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, in 1932 by Henry J. Talge as the Rival Manufacturing Co., which specialized in

die casting Die casting is a casting (metalworking), metal casting process that is characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure into a mold cavity. The mold cavity is created using two hardened tool steel die (manufacturing), dies which have been ...

. It soon began producing food preparation products under the "O-Mat" line, such as the Juice-O-Mat juicer, Can-O-Mat can opener, and Broil-O-Mat broiler. After shutting down their consumer lines during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to produce tools for

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F- ...

and ammunition and switches for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, Rival expanded their product lines in the post-war era. They acquired Waverly Products, Inc., in 1948, expanding their products into the home appliances market with Waverly's popular Steam-O-Matic iron. In 1963, the company was sold to Stern Brothers Investment Bank for $6.3 million, and went public in 1964. Soon after, they acquired Titan Manufacturing Company and their line of portable electric heaters. In 1970, they acquired the Chicago-based Naxon Utilities Corp., makers of a little-known product called the "Bean-Pot"

slow cooker A slow cooker, (also known as a crock-pot after a trademark owned by Sunbeam Products, but sometimes used generically in the English-speaking world), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance used to simmer at a lower temperature than ...

. Rival re-introduced the Bean Pot as the

in 1971, along with a book of slow-cooker recipes, and it quickly became one of their top products. Rival went private again in 1986, but became a publicly traded company again in 1992 after a failed attempt in 1990. After going public again, they acquired the Simer Pump Company, Pollenex Corp, White Mountain Freezers, Patton Electric Company, Inc., Fasco Consumer Products, and Bionaire, Inc. during the 1990s. In November 1996 Rival purchased the remnants of Dazey Products Company and their "Seal-A-Meal" and "Food Saver" products. In February 1999, Rival was acquired by Holmes Products Corp, a manufacturer of air handling products such as fans, heaters, humidifiers, and filters (markets in which Rival was also a major player). Holmes continued to best known for Rival's products marketed under the "Rival", "Crock-Pot, and Bionaire" brand names until they were acquired by Jarden Corporation in 2005. Jarden's Sunbeam Products, Inc. subsidiary continued to manufacture products under the Rival and Holmes brands, although Crock-Pot was spun off as its own brand and its slow cookers no longer feature the Rival logo, and Bionaire and Patton have become Jarden subsidiaries. The "Rival" brand name and logo are also licensed by

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

for some of their

store brand A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

small appliances. In 2016,

Newell Rubbermaid Newell Brands Inc. is an American manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products. The company's brands and products include Rubbermaid storage/or waste disposal containers; home organization and reusable container ...

acquired Jarden and became Newell Brands.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rival Company Home appliance manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1932 1932 establishments in Missouri 1999 mergers and acquisitions 2005 mergers and acquisitions 2016 mergers and acquisitions Defunct manufacturing companies based in Missouri