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| GE Appliances[1] | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Predecessor | General Electric |
| Founded | 1905; 121 years ago (1905), inSchenectady,New York, U.S. |
| Headquarters | Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
Area served | North America |
Key people | |
| Products | Home appliances |
Number of employees | 12,000, including 6,000 at Appliance Park |
| Parent | Haier Smart Home Company, a publicly-traded affiliate ofHaier |
| Website | geappliancesco |
| Footnotes / references [2] | |
GE Appliances is an Americanhome appliance manufacturer inLouisville, Kentucky owned by the Chinese companyHaier.[3] As part of the acquisition deal fromGeneral Electric in 2016, Haier has the right to use the GE brand name on appliances until 2056.[4]
GE Appliances is a major appliance manufacturer in the United States and manufactures appliances under several brands,[5] includingGE,GE Profile,Café,Monogram,Haier andHotpoint (Americas only, European rights held byWhirlpool Corporation). The company also ownsFirstBuild, aco-creation community andmicro-factory[6] on theUniversity of Louisville's campus in Louisville, Kentucky. Another FirstBuild location is inSouth Korea, and a FirstBuild location inIndia opened its doors in 2019.[7]
GE Appliances was originally a part ofGeneral Electric, a company which began marketing a full roster of heating and cooking products in 1907.[8] In January 2004, it became part of GE Consumer & Industrial when GE Consumer Products (founded in 1905) merged with GE Industrial Systems (founded in 1930) to form GE Consumer & Industrial. From 2010 to late 2014, GE Appliances & Lighting was a sub-business under GE Home & Business Solutions.[9]
On September 8, 2014, General Electric agreed to sell the company toElectrolux, a Swedish appliance manufacturer and the second-largest consumer appliance manufacturer afterWhirlpool Corporation, for US$3.3 billion in cash. The deal carried a US$175 million termination fee clause if Electrolux was unable to complete the acquisition. The transaction was terminated in December 2015 after the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to block the deal on concerns that, along with Whirlpool, the combined company would control 90% of the "do-it-yourself" market for kitchen appliances sold by home construction retailers.[10]
On June 6, 2016, Qingdao Haier (now Haier Smart Home Company) acquired GE Appliances for $5.6 billion. Under the terms of the sale, Haier has the right to use the GE brand name until 2056. In 2017, GE Appliances introduced a new tagline, 'good things, for life', referencing its historical connection with General Electric, which used the tagline "We Bring Good Things to Life" from 1979 to 2003.[11][12][13]
In 1951, construction began inLouisville, Kentucky on Appliance Park, the now 750-acre (300-ha) manufacturing facility that employs 8,100 people.[14]
A large-scale fire broke out on April 3, 2015, at the Appliance Park. Building 6 (AP6) partially collapsed and was predicted to be a total loss.[15] The 6-acre (24,000 m2) building, located at 4000 Buechel Bank Road, was mostly being used for storage, with portions leased to GE suppliers andlogistics partners. More than 200 firefighters from 18 local agencies were involved in fighting theeight-alarm fire, which led to a production halt and evacuation of the other buildings in the complex. No injuries or fatalities were reported, but "shelter in place" orders were issued for homes and businesses within a 2-mile (3.2 km) radius (later reduced to a one-half mile radius) of the Appliance Park due to noxious and acrid smoke. No hazardous materials were known to be stored at the site. Because of the huge volume of smoke, gases and runoff from burning plastics and other materials the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection andUSEPA were called in to monitor emissions from the fire and found they were not toxic. However, area residents reported leaf-size pieces of ash and burned insulation materials in their yards. The cause of the fire remained unclear; a local fire chief said that investigators were leaning toward alightning strike as the probable cause.
The fire was contained, but not extinguished, by the early afternoon of April 3.[16] A statement issued by GE later that day indicated that production at the complex would remain halted over the weekend and at least through the end of the following week as the company conducted "a thorough evaluation of all other buildings" and replenished inventories of parts destroyed by the fire. The shelter-in-place order was canceled for residents within one-half mile of the site the following Sunday, April 5.
Two years following the fire, an employee-led company initiative turned the site into a sustainable green space that contains native grasses, trees, and wildlife.[17]
GE Appliances' largest manufacturing site, Appliance Park facility inLouisville, Kentucky, produces washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, and bottom-freezer refrigerators. The company also operates manufacturing sites in four states includingDecatur, Alabama – which produces top freezer refrigerators;LaFayette, Georgia – cooking products;Selmer, Tennessee – Monogram built-in refrigerators and ZonelinePTACs, andCamden, South Carolina – water heating products. The facilities in LaFayette and Selmer are owned by the company.[18] The company also produces small appliances through small-batch manufacturing at its microfactories, including FirstBuild in Kentucky and CoCREATE in Connecticut.[19]
Since 2016, GE Appliances has launched new businesses and added U.S. investments. The company announced it would make major investments in its U.S. facilities including $200 million into Appliance Park[20] in Louisville, $150 million investment in new distribution centers[21] inDallas,Denver, Northern Georgia, Northern California, and $115 million in its manufacturing facility in Decatur, Alabama.[22]
In 2020, the company announced it would expand beyond major household goods and begin producing small appliances, including coffee makers, toasters, toaster ovens, and blenders.[23]
In July 2022, GE Appliances created a dedicated team for the recreational living sector, expanding its RV-focused product innovations. Based in Elkhart, Indiana, GE Appliances Recreational Living produces products for motorhomes and campers.[24]
In the same year, GE Appliances launched an Air & Water Solutions division focused on residential and light commercial water heaters, water filtration, HVAC, and ductless heating and cooling solutions.[25] In 2022, the company made a $70 million investment to build gas water heaters in Camden, South Carolina.[26]
In March 2023, GE Appliances co-founded the Home Connectivity Alliance to support interoperability among various smart home devices.[27]
In October 2023, GE Appliances opened CoCREATE, a new facility in Stamford, Connecticut. This location offers a space for local entrepreneurs, students, and community members to work with GE Appliances on prototype development and small-batch manufacturing.[28]
Also in October 2023, GE Appliances announced two new dishwasher manufacturing lines that completed a $450 million investment announced at Appliance Park in late 2021.[29]
Also in October 2023, the company marked 50 years of building cooking products at its Roper subsidiary in Georgia by investing $118 million in new assembly lines, presses, and workforce programs.[30] Later in the year, GE Appliances officially opened its CoCREATE facility in Connecticut, featuring a small appliance microfactory, community makerspace, test kitchen, and design center.[31]
In February 2024, the company introduced the EcoBalance Home System, a platform enabling homeowners to monitor and manage energy usage across home systems.[32]
In one instance of product quality and customer service concerns regarding a defective GE Cafe oven range, a consumer inMassachusetts experienced excessively warm up time and uneven temperature from their two year old GE Cafe oven range combo costing nearly $3,000. The consumer has experienced issues with their range from the beginning and issues persisted despite several repairs having been made by GE technicians. Dissatisfied with the suggested resolution of 30% discount on a new oven, the consumer reached out to investigative reporters atCBS News in Boston.[33][34]
In an email believed to be sent in error to the investigative journalist in October 2025, Wendy Treinan from Integrated Brands and Communications at GE Appliances was quoted writing[33][34]:
"I'm still back and forth with this aggressive reporter and they are going to run a story. Making sure that we have our own trained technicians in this consumer's area before I bite back."
"I don't want them to run this story without the offer of a service to assess at our cost. It's an important viewing area and a big audience for us to get a smear in but I'm also not willing to give her a replacement to make this go away yet."
There were 3,607Better Business Bureau complaints made against GE Appliances in three years leading up to January 2026 and nearly all of them naming poor customer service.[33]
In 2023,Time included the GE Profile Smart Mixer in its list of Best Inventions.[35] In 2024, TIME also recognized the GE Profile Smart Indoor Smoker on this list.[36]
In February 2023, the newly released GE Profile UltraFast Combo with ventless heat pump technology, a washer-dryer appliance, was recognized with the KBIS Editors' Choice Award.[37]
In 2024,Fast Company named GE Appliances among the "Most Innovative Companies".[38]
GE Appliances has its largest operations at Appliance Park in Louisville, Ky., our home since 1951. The 750-acre facility, where 8,100 team members design and build appliances and support corporate operations.
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