Kenmore is a very complex and confusing brand marketed by Sears. At one time Sears dominated the appliance market with a 75% market share. That has slowly dwindled to less that 50% and Sears is financially very shaky. For years, the big box stores such as Home Depot, Lowes and Best Buy have been chipping away at Sears' market share.
Starting around 1990, Sears began marketing other brands in its retail stores and began repairing all brands. In their showroom, you will now find a Kenmore next to a GE and a Whirlpool. Previously Sears, along with GE and Whirlpool, only repaired their own brands. Now they all fix anything.
We have noticed that Sears discounts its service charge (below the big boys) and makes up the loss by charging higher totals. They also strongly push insurance policies and service contracts. Sears is far from cheap, but it is difficult for consumers to deduce that because of Sear's slick marketing. Customers have a very difficult time communicating with Sears and often complain about being stood up on appointments. During busy seasons, like summer, Sears infuriates customers by making them wait 10 days on refrigerator repairs. A little guy who follows our guidelines can run circles around Sears and easily steal their customers. He can make a fine living on Sears rejects alone.
Sears owns A & E, a national service company. A & E provides warranty service for many brands and does work for many big box stores like Lowes and Home Depot. Sears has eliminated its own service fleet in most areas by moving their techs to A&E and cutting their benefits. They also outsource service calls to independents like us. Don't say "yes" to such a "flattering" request and start running Sears calls. You will be sorry.
Following is a link that unravels the hidden manufacturers behind all the Sears products. Sears makes nothing; it is purely a marketing and distribution company.
A Kenmore will always be manufactured the following familiar companies.
Identifying the many brand names. First the three biggest manufacturers, followed by their many brands:
Whirlpool Corp (Primary brands are bold)
- Admiral
- Amana
- Estate
- Hotpoint (Europe)
- Indesit
- Inglis
- Jenn-Air
- Kenmore
- KitchenAid
- Maytag
- Roper
- Whirlpool
Whirlpool also manufactures certain appliances under the Kenmore label, (manufactured for Sears Holdings Corporation) and Crosley top load washers. Whirlpool has expanded the marketing of Inglis appliances which are sold in the United States at Best Buy stores. Whirlpool also manufactures IKEA brand appliances for IKEA, Top Load laundry for Crosley and Admiral appliances for Home Depot.
Maytag Brand Names (Primary brands are bold). Maytag was purchased by Whirlpool in 2006 and all the Maytag factories were closed up!
- Admiral
- Amana
- Caloric
- Dynasty
- Gaffers & Sattler
- Glenwood
- Hardwick
- Holiday
- Inglis
- Jenn-Air
- Litton
- Maytag
- Magic Chef
- Modern Maid
- Norge
- Sunray
Electrolux Corp (Swedish Company)
- Frigidaire, full range major appliance brand sold globally
- Gibson, refrigerator and air conditioning manufacturer
- Kelvinator, commercial refrigerator and freezer brand sold in Australia and elsewhere
- Kenmore, marketed by Sears
- Philco, former U.S. consumer electronics manufacturer, though brand name is also used separately by Philips Electronics
- Tappan, former U.S. appliance manufacturer
- White-Westinghouse, former U.S. appliance manufacturer
GE, Hotpoint US - In 2017, GE sold its appliance division to Haier
Fisher Paykel, DCS (New Zealand)
Bosch, Thermador, Gaggenau (German)
LG Tromm (South Korea)
Kenmore, marketed by Sears
Samsung (South Korea)
Sharp - mostly microwaves
VERY MINOR PLAYERS (generally troublesome to deal with) :
Asko (Sweden)
Meile (German)
Viking
Wolf
Dacor