Founded in 1959 to manufacture and sell specialty refrigerators for the
RV and marine industries, Thetford Marine’s Norcold brand is celebrating
its 50th anniversary. Selling more than 3 million
refrigerators/freezers worldwide, Norcold strives to exceed the needs of
a demanding marketplace, according to a news release.
As the recreational industry prospered, so did Norcold. Rapidly growing
from a small, family company in California to a world leader, Norcold
was acquired by the Stolle Corp., an Alcoa company, in 1963. To handle
rapid growth, Norcold moved to its current Sidney, Ohio, location in
1964.
When a competitor bought its primary supplier of cooling units in
1988, Norcold responded quickly and dynamically. Within a year, the
company built a manufacturing plant in nearby Gettysburg, Ohio, that
produced higher quality products than its previous vendor.
Norcold’s growth and innovation continues today, with the
introduction of features such as the water-in-door Chilled Water
Dispenser. The company recently launched the largest gas-absorption RV
refrigerator on the market, the 17-cubic-foot PolarMAX RF (shown above
at left).
Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., Thetford Corp. is the world’s
leading supplier of sanitation and refrigeration products for the
recreational vehicle, marine and heavy-duty truck industries. Thetford
is a privately held company with eight manufacturing facilities in four
countries.
Thetford subsidiaries include Norcold, America’s leading
manufacturer of gas-absorption refrigerators and freezers for the RV,
marine and truck markets; Tecma, a producer of fine-china toilets and
powerful waste-transfer systems based in Italy; and Spinflo, a unit in
England that manufactures high-quality cooking and heating appliances as
well as accessories.
