Company Profile

A 21st-century company, Norcold is proud of its rich 40-year history…from humble beginnings, through periods of rapid growth, to today's position of industry leadership. Norcold was founded Oct. 21, 1959 in California to manufacture and sell specialty refrigerators to the then-small RV and Marine industries. As the recreational industry prospered, so did Norcold, rapidly growing from a small, family company to an industry "player" with unlimited potential. In early 1963, the company was acquired by the Stolle Corporation, an Alcoa Company, and greatly expanded its refrigerator lines. To better supply customers in the Midwest and to handle rapid growth, Norcold moved to its current Sidney, Ohio, location in 1964 and began producing refrigerators there exclusively. Sound business decisions helped Norcold weather industry downturns of the early 1970's and late 1980's. Facing a major challenge when a competitor bought its primary supplier of cooling units in 1988, Norcold responded quickly and dynamically. Within a year, it had built its own state-of-the-art cooling unit manufacturing plant in nearby Gettysburg, Ohio. In addition to satisfying Norcold's needs, this facility produced higher quality products than its vendor had been supplying. The attention to quality has helped Norcold sell more than three million refrigerators/freezers worldwide and rise to a position of industry leadership in the past decade. A new chapter began for Norcold when it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thetford Corporation of Ann Arbor, Mich., on March 1, 1997. Thetford is a true industry leader, devoted to the recreational industry. Norcold's growth continues today - and the people of Norcold are excited about the future.