Kimball International
Encyclopedia
Kimball International is a manufacturer of furniture and electronic assemblies, serving customers around the world. Kimball International consists of two groups: the Furniture Segment and the Contract Electronics Segment. It is the successor to W.W. Kimball and Company, the world's largest piano and organ manufacturer at certain times in the 19th and 20th centuries.
in 1857 as W.W. Kimball and Company, founded by William Wallace Kimball (1828–1904). In 1864, Kimball moved from its earliest location in the corner of a jewelry store to sales rooms in the Crosby Opera House where Kimball sold pianos made by East Coast
piano makers Chickering and Sons
, the J & C Fischer Piano Company, Hallet & Davis, F.C. Lighte, Joseph P. Hale, and the W.P. Emerson Piano Company. Kimball also sold less expensive reed organ
s. The Great Chicago Fire
destroyed all of Kimball's commercial assets in 1871, but he continued selling from his home, and rebuilt his dealership business.
In 1877, Kimball began assembling its own reed organs, using actions
made by the J.G. Earhuff Company and cases made by contractors. After three years, the company began offering organs made entirely in house. In 1882, the Kimball company was incorporated, and an expansive factory was built to produce reed organs. Soon, the factory was producing 15,000 organs a year; the world's largest organ maker. Kimball stopped making reed organs in 1922 after having produced 403,390 instruments.
In 1887, Kimball began building a five-story factory for making its own pianos, and the next year produced 500 instruments of indifferent quality. Kimball hired veterans from Steinway & Sons
and C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik
, and these men initiated improvements to the piano line. By 1893 at the World's Columbian Exposition
, at which Kimball received the "Worlds Columbian Exposition Award", Kimball was known for high quality, efficiency in manufacture, and aggressive sales practices using 35–40 traveling salesmen to cover cities and remote areas. Prominent East Coast piano makers snubbed the Chicago exposition because they feared Chicago favoritism, and because of philosophical differences between their reliance on traditional name brand faithfulness and Kimball's streamlined modern efficiency which greatly threatened their sales.
In 1890, Kimball hired Englishman Frederic W. Hedgeland, trained at his family's organworks in London: W.M. Hedgeland. Hedgeland supervised a portable pipe organ
design about the size of a large upright piano. The pipe organ division of Kimball also built large, permanent pipe organs, including one for the Mormon Tabernacle in 1901. When the pipe organ division was closed down in 1942, some 7,326 models had been built.
Kimball was involved in making player piano
s, the first effort being an automatic mechanism in 1901. As well, from 1915 to 1925, Kimball produced a popular line of phonograph
s.
During World War II
, Kimball produced aircraft parts for major military airplane manufacturers such as Boeing
, Douglas
and Lockheed. After the war, piano production resumed but a series of poor financial decisions by W.W. Kimball Jr led the company into decline. In the mid-1950s, Kimball built a luxurious new factory in the Chicago suburb of Melrose Park, Illinois
, but the factory's high costs, its poor performance, and flagging sales brought the company into grave financial crisis. Kimball had slipped from being the world's largest piano maker to the seventh largest, and it was nearly insolvent.
, to make television cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and office furniture. Jasper prospered from expanding television sales and from its investment in vertical integration
, giving the company self-sufficiency. In 1959, Jasper, Inc., purchased the W. W. Kimball Company as a wholly owned subsidiary
. Jasper moved its Kimball piano manufacturing to West Baden Springs
in 1961; some 26 miles (41.8 km) northeast of the town of Jasper. The first Indiana-made pianos were plagued with quality problems, but the issues were addressed and the pianos improved. In 1966, Jasper bought the prestigious Austrian piano maker Bösendorfer
.
By 1969, Kimball had returned to its former position as the world's largest piano maker. The subsidiary made some 100,000 pianos and organs annually during its peak years in the 1960s and 1970s. An average day saw 250 pianos and 150 electronic organ
s shipped from the factory. Grand pianos from Kimball in Indiana ranged from compact 4 in 5 in (134.62 cm) models to larger 6 in 7 in (200.66 cm) models. In Vienna
, the Bösendorfer division made concert grand pianos as large as 9 in 6 in (289.56 cm): the Imperial Bösendorfer
. Kimball also made upright pianos in 42 inches (106.7 cm) and 46 inches (116.8 cm) sizes, but not smaller spinet
models; a decision which allowed great profits to be made by competitors. However, Kimball produced inexpensive console pianos, between upright and spinet size, in a subsidiary plant across the Texas–Mexico border in Reynosa, doing business as Kimco.
Based on the success of piano and organ sales, Jasper determined to leverage the Kimball brand recognition to assist sales of office furniture, home furniture and electronics. Company leaders realized that the Kimball brand had far greater popular recognition than the Jasper brand, and in 1974, Jasper changed its name to Kimball International, going public
in September 1976 with the initial public offering
of 500,000 shares of common stock
.
Kimball International bought Krakauer Brothers
in 1980; a New York piano maker founded in 1869. Kimball operated Krakauer for five years in New York before closing the plant.
Because of a worldwide decline in piano and organ purchases through the 1980s and 1990s, the Kimball piano and organ subsidiary was discontinued in February 1996. The last Kimball grand piano was signed by every worker and company executive, and remains on display at Kimball's showroom in Jasper, Indiana. The Bösendorfer piano brand continued unaffected, but was sold back to Austrian buyers in 2002.
, picking up four facilities in Michigan, California, Florida, and Minnesota. Reptron specialized in end-to-end manufacturing solutions for medical devices. The acquisition brings 1200 more employees into Kimball. KEG manufacturing now consists of products ranging from automotive to medical, industrial and public safety.
's major hotels and casinos.
KEG is a contract manufacturer of durable electronics and serves a variety of industries on a global scale. Kimball Electronics Group has facilities operating in Jasper, Indiana
; Fremont, California
; Tampa, Florida
;Reynosa, Mexico; Laem Chabang
, Thailand
; Bridgend
, Wales
; Nanjing
, China
; and Poznan
, Poland
. These facilities employ modern equipment that is used in the manufacturing of products for the automotive, medical and industrial markets.
KEG was established in 1961 to build electronic organs. In the late 1980s KEG became focused solely on contract electronic manufacturing services.
Kimball piano and organ
Kimball International started as a piano dealership in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1857 as W.W. Kimball and Company, founded by William Wallace Kimball (1828–1904). In 1864, Kimball moved from its earliest location in the corner of a jewelry store to sales rooms in the Crosby Opera House where Kimball sold pianos made by East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
piano makers Chickering and Sons
Chickering and Sons
Chickering and Sons was an American piano manufacturer located in Boston, known for producing award-winning instruments of superb quality and design. The company was founded in 1823 by Jonas Chickering and James Stewart, but the partnership dissolved four years later...
, the J & C Fischer Piano Company, Hallet & Davis, F.C. Lighte, Joseph P. Hale, and the W.P. Emerson Piano Company. Kimball also sold less expensive reed organ
Reed organ
A reed organ, also called a parlor organ, pump organ, cabinet organ, cottage organ, is an organ that generates its sounds using free metal reeds...
s. The Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...
destroyed all of Kimball's commercial assets in 1871, but he continued selling from his home, and rebuilt his dealership business.
In 1877, Kimball began assembling its own reed organs, using actions
Action (piano)
The piano action mechanism, or the key action mechanism, or simply the action of a piano or other musical keyboards, is the mechanical assembly which translates the depression of the keys into rapid motion of a hammer, which creates sound by striking the strings. Action can be referred to a pianos...
made by the J.G. Earhuff Company and cases made by contractors. After three years, the company began offering organs made entirely in house. In 1882, the Kimball company was incorporated, and an expansive factory was built to produce reed organs. Soon, the factory was producing 15,000 organs a year; the world's largest organ maker. Kimball stopped making reed organs in 1922 after having produced 403,390 instruments.
In 1887, Kimball began building a five-story factory for making its own pianos, and the next year produced 500 instruments of indifferent quality. Kimball hired veterans from Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
and C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik
C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik
C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik AG is a German manufacturer of pianos, established in 1853 by Carl Bechstein.-Before Bechstein:...
, and these men initiated improvements to the piano line. By 1893 at the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
, at which Kimball received the "Worlds Columbian Exposition Award", Kimball was known for high quality, efficiency in manufacture, and aggressive sales practices using 35–40 traveling salesmen to cover cities and remote areas. Prominent East Coast piano makers snubbed the Chicago exposition because they feared Chicago favoritism, and because of philosophical differences between their reliance on traditional name brand faithfulness and Kimball's streamlined modern efficiency which greatly threatened their sales.
In 1890, Kimball hired Englishman Frederic W. Hedgeland, trained at his family's organworks in London: W.M. Hedgeland. Hedgeland supervised a portable pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
design about the size of a large upright piano. The pipe organ division of Kimball also built large, permanent pipe organs, including one for the Mormon Tabernacle in 1901. When the pipe organ division was closed down in 1942, some 7,326 models had been built.
Kimball was involved in making player piano
Player piano
A player piano is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in...
s, the first effort being an automatic mechanism in 1901. As well, from 1915 to 1925, Kimball produced a popular line of phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
s.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Kimball produced aircraft parts for major military airplane manufacturers such as Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
, Douglas
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...
and Lockheed. After the war, piano production resumed but a series of poor financial decisions by W.W. Kimball Jr led the company into decline. In the mid-1950s, Kimball built a luxurious new factory in the Chicago suburb of Melrose Park, Illinois
Melrose Park, Illinois
Melrose Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a "near-in" suburb of Chicago. The population was 23,171 at the 2000 census. Melrose Park has long been home to a large Italian-American population, though now it is majority Mexican-American. It was the home of Kiddieland...
, but the factory's high costs, its poor performance, and flagging sales brought the company into grave financial crisis. Kimball had slipped from being the world's largest piano maker to the seventh largest, and it was nearly insolvent.
Acquisition by Jasper
The Jasper Corporation was founded in 1950 in Jasper, IndianaJasper, Indiana
- Strassenfest :The Jasper Strassenfest is a four-day event held annually during the first weekend in August. The "Fest" is a celebration between Jasper and its German sister-city Pfaffenweiler, a small village in southwest Germany. Many citizens of Pfaffenweiler travel to Jasper around this time...
, to make television cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and office furniture. Jasper prospered from expanding television sales and from its investment in vertical integration
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
, giving the company self-sufficiency. In 1959, Jasper, Inc., purchased the W. W. Kimball Company as a wholly owned subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
. Jasper moved its Kimball piano manufacturing to West Baden Springs
West Baden Springs, Indiana
West Baden Springs is a town in French Lick Township, Orange County, Indiana, United States. The population was 574 at the 2010 census. It is the birthplace of NBA legend Larry Bird.-Geography:West Baden Springs is located at ....
in 1961; some 26 miles (41.8 km) northeast of the town of Jasper. The first Indiana-made pianos were plagued with quality problems, but the issues were addressed and the pianos improved. In 1966, Jasper bought the prestigious Austrian piano maker Bösendorfer
Bösendorfer
Bösendorfer is an Austrian piano manufacturer, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha. The brand is known for producing pianos with a uniquely rich, singing, and sustaining tone...
.
By 1969, Kimball had returned to its former position as the world's largest piano maker. The subsidiary made some 100,000 pianos and organs annually during its peak years in the 1960s and 1970s. An average day saw 250 pianos and 150 electronic organ
Electronic organ
An electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
s shipped from the factory. Grand pianos from Kimball in Indiana ranged from compact 4 in 5 in (134.62 cm) models to larger 6 in 7 in (200.66 cm) models. In Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the Bösendorfer division made concert grand pianos as large as 9 in 6 in (289.56 cm): the Imperial Bösendorfer
Imperial Bosendorfer (piano)
The Imperial Bösendorfer is the largest model of pianos that Bösendorfer manufactures at 290 centimeters long, or 9½ feet. For 90 years, the only concert grand piano in the world with 97 keys, in 1990 it was joined in this tradition by the instruments of Stuart & Sons, Australia...
. Kimball also made upright pianos in 42 inches (106.7 cm) and 46 inches (116.8 cm) sizes, but not smaller spinet
Spinet
A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ.-Spinets as harpsichords:While the term spinet is used to designate a harpsichord, typically what is meant is the bentside spinet, described in this section...
models; a decision which allowed great profits to be made by competitors. However, Kimball produced inexpensive console pianos, between upright and spinet size, in a subsidiary plant across the Texas–Mexico border in Reynosa, doing business as Kimco.
Based on the success of piano and organ sales, Jasper determined to leverage the Kimball brand recognition to assist sales of office furniture, home furniture and electronics. Company leaders realized that the Kimball brand had far greater popular recognition than the Jasper brand, and in 1974, Jasper changed its name to Kimball International, going public
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
in September 1976 with the initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
of 500,000 shares of common stock
Common stock
Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. It is called "common" to distinguish it from preferred stock. In the event of bankruptcy, common stock investors receive their funds after preferred stock holders, bondholders, creditors, etc...
.
Kimball International bought Krakauer Brothers
Krakauer Brothers
Krakauer Brothers, also known as Krakauer, was an American manufacturer of handmade, high-quality pianos, founded 1869 in New York City by the Jewish immigrant Simon Krakauer, his son David and his brother Julius....
in 1980; a New York piano maker founded in 1869. Kimball operated Krakauer for five years in New York before closing the plant.
Because of a worldwide decline in piano and organ purchases through the 1980s and 1990s, the Kimball piano and organ subsidiary was discontinued in February 1996. The last Kimball grand piano was signed by every worker and company executive, and remains on display at Kimball's showroom in Jasper, Indiana. The Bösendorfer piano brand continued unaffected, but was sold back to Austrian buyers in 2002.
Today
In January 2007, Kimball Electronics Group (KEG) acquired the Reptron Manufacturing Services based in Tampa, FloridaTampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, picking up four facilities in Michigan, California, Florida, and Minnesota. Reptron specialized in end-to-end manufacturing solutions for medical devices. The acquisition brings 1200 more employees into Kimball. KEG manufacturing now consists of products ranging from automotive to medical, industrial and public safety.
Furniture Segment
The Kimball Office Furniture Group focuses on the office furniture business of the company. It has three brand names: Kimball Office, National Office Furniture, and Kimball Hospitality.Kimball Office
Kimball Office made its first desk in 1970. Kimball Office expanded its offerings into a broad product line, including casegoods, systems, seating, filing, and tables.National Office Furniture
In 1980, Kimball International formed National Office Furniture to make mid-priced office furniture. As part of Kimball International, National leveraged its advantages in quality wood construction, stocked inventory for quicker lead times, and modern production facilities.Kimball Hospitality
Kimball entered the lodging market in 1985. Kimball Hospitality has furnished over 14,000 rooms in Las VegasLas Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
's major hotels and casinos.
Kimball Electronics Group
KEG, the electronic contract assemblies manufacturing arm of Kimball International, is a technology company providing design, engineering, manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of electronic assemblies and circuit boards.KEG is a contract manufacturer of durable electronics and serves a variety of industries on a global scale. Kimball Electronics Group has facilities operating in Jasper, Indiana
Jasper, Indiana
- Strassenfest :The Jasper Strassenfest is a four-day event held annually during the first weekend in August. The "Fest" is a celebration between Jasper and its German sister-city Pfaffenweiler, a small village in southwest Germany. Many citizens of Pfaffenweiler travel to Jasper around this time...
; Fremont, California
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Niles, Irvington, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs...
; Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
;Reynosa, Mexico; Laem Chabang
Laem Chabang
Laem Chabang is a city in Chonburi Province, Thailand. It covers the tambon Bang Lamung of Bang Lamung district, and the complete tambon Bueng, Sura Sak, Thung Su Khla and parts of Nong Kham of Si Racha district...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
; Bridgend
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
; Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
; and Poznan
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. These facilities employ modern equipment that is used in the manufacturing of products for the automotive, medical and industrial markets.
KEG was established in 1961 to build electronic organs. In the late 1980s KEG became focused solely on contract electronic manufacturing services.
Awards and honors
- 2007: Kimball International was listed in 2007 by Forbes magazine as one of the "Platinum 400", also known as "America's Best Big Companies".
- 2006: Kimball International was honored in 2006 by “Occupational Hazards” magazine, when its Kimball Office – Cherry Street manufacturing facility was named one of the "10 Safest Companies in America".
- 2004: Kimball International was listed in 2004 by Fortune Magazine as "America's Most Admired Companies".