Description
Newell Brands is an American worldwide manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products with a portfolio of brands including: Rubbermaid storage and trash containers, home organization and reusable container products, Contigo and Bubba water bottles, Coleman outdoor products, writing instruments (Berol, Expo Markers, PaperMate, Dymo, Mr. Sketch, Parker Pens, Sharpie, Reynolds, Prismacolor, Rotring, X-acto, Waterman), glue (Elmer's, Krazy Glue), children's products (Aprica, NUK, Tigex, Babysun, Baby Jogger and Graco), First Alert alarm systems, Calphalon cookware and kitchen electrics, Sunbeam, Rival, Crock-Pot, Holmes, FoodSaver, Oster, Osterizer, and Mr. Coffee small kitchen appliances as well as Yankee Candle, Chesapeake Bay Candle, Millefiori Milano, and WoodWick home fragrance products.
The company's global headquarters was in Atlanta until tax incentives lured it to New Jersey in 2016. Three years later, in 2019, the company announced plans to relocate its headquarters back to Atlanta.
History
The Newell Manufacturing Company was founded by Edgar Newell in Ogdensburg, New York, in 1903 as a manufacturer of metal curtain rods.
The F. W. Woolworth retail chain became the first customer for Newell's bronze–plated curtain rods in 1916, making them the first Newell products to be distributed nationally. This marked the beginning of Newell's mass merchandising strategy. As the business grew, the company built a new 15,000-square-foot facility in Ogdensburg, New York.
The company purchased Barnwell Mfg. Co. of Freeport, Illinois in 1921, renaming it Western Newell Manufacturing Company. Freeport's access to railroad lines facilitated shipping products west. Kresge, the department store chain (later Kmart) was one of Western Newell's larger accounts.
Daniel C. Ferguson was named president in 1965, and developed a growth-by-acquisition strategy, intending to build a strong, multi-product company.
The Newell Company went public in 1972, opening on the NASDAQ at $28 per share. In 1974, they acquired EZ Paintr Corporation, then the world's largest maker of paint applicators. Newell was listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol NWL in 1979. In 1979, Newell moved into its first corporate headquarters in a historic former bank building in Freeport, Illinois.
In 1983, the company entered the cookware market with the purchase of Mirro. In 1987, the company acquired Anchor Hocking Corporation, a specialty manufacturer of glassware, flatware, cookware and other products. The deal included the purchase of Amerock, a maker of cabinet hardware and window components.
In 1992, they acquired Sanford, a manufacturer and marketer of writing instruments, including the Sharpie and Expo brands. A year later, they acquired Levolor, a manufacturer and marketer of window treatments. They also entered the beauty and style category by acquiring Goody hair care accessories, including Ace men's grooming accessories.
In 1997, the company acquired Kirsch, a company involved with drapery hardware and custom window coverings. In 1998, the company expanded in cookware with the purchase of Calphalon Corporation, a manufacturer of cookware marketed primarily to upscale retailers and department stores. The company also purchased Panex, a cookware maker in South America.
In 2016, Newell moved its corporate headquarters to Hoboken, New Jersey.
