Helen of Troy Limited

Helen of Troy Limited
Public
Traded as NASDAQ: HELE
Founded 1968 in El Paso, Texas
Headquarters Hamilton, Bermuda
El Paso, Texas (operational)
Key people
 Founder Gerald "Jerry" Rubin
Products personal care, electrical products
Revenue IncreaseUSD 1.45 billion (2015) [1]
Number of employees
 1,640[2]
Subsidiaries OXO International
Website www.hotus.com

Helen of Troy Limited is a publicly-traded manufacturer of personal care electrical products under brands licensed from Vidal Sassoon, Revlon, Dr. Scholl's, Sea Breeze, and Vitapoint. It is also the parent corporation of OXO International and Kaz. The company is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, and its U.S. operations are headquartered in El Paso, Texas.

History

The company started as a wig store in Downtown El Paso in 1968. The company's foundation remains in hair appliances, a business it entered in 1975 by first supplying hair salons with hair dryers and curling irons. It continues to sell to the professional hairstyling industry.[3] In 1980, the founder, Jerry Rubin, entered into a successful licensing agreement with Vidal Sassoon. Since then, the company's growth has come through years of acquiring rights to use well-known national brands for its hair-care products and other personal-care products, or by buying brands and companies outright.[4] Those deals have made Helen of Troy a force in the personal-care products market.

The company underwent a notable tax inversion when it reorganized into a Bermuda company in 1993.[5] This inversion prompted new Federal Legislation tightening the rules on inversion, which are colloquially known as the "Helen of Troy Rules."[6]

In 2004, the company paid $273.2 million for OXO, a New York designer and maker of household gadgets.[3] On Jan. 03, 2011, the company announced it has completed the acquisition of Kaz, Inc. for $271.5 million. Kaz made body thermometers, humidifiers, fans and other products mainly under the Vicks, Braun and Honeywell brands, and it owned brands like Stinger, Softheat and Kaz.[3] [7]

In 2014, Jerry Rubin stepped down as CEO, and was replaced by Julien Mininberg, of the company's Health Care and Home Environment Division.[4]

Company structure

Helen of Troy's sales were expected to exceed $1.1 billion in 2011, and the El Paso company's founder and CEO Gerald "Jerry" Rubin sees the company getting even bigger in the future with more acquisitions of brands and companies.[3]

Helen of Troy corporate office.

The company's US headquarters is in a unique northwest El Paso building, where about 500 people work in corporate administration jobs, product design and testing, package design, marketing and product distribution.

Most of Helen of Troy's hair-care appliances and household gadgets are made in contracted factories in China. Kaz also does much of its manufacturing in China. Kaz also makes humidifiers and body thermometers in two factories in Juárez, Mexico which is to continue under Helen of Troy. Shampoos and other liquid products are manufactured in the U.S. and South America.

Helen of Troy consolidated the two companies' offices in Shenzhen, China. The combined office has 177 employees who do engineering, quality control, logistics and other functions, said Michael Cafaro, executive vice president of manufacturing and new product development for Helen of Troy. The company also has offices in Macau, China and Hong Kong.

Brands

Helen of Troy Limited, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, imports, markets, and distributes brand-name household, personal care, and healthcare/home environment consumer products in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Personal Care, Housewares, and Healthcare/Home Environment. The Personal Care segment offers curling irons, straightening irons, hot air brushes, hand-held dryers, hard and soft-bonnet hair dryers, hair setters, facial care appliances, foot care appliances, hair clippers and trimmers, hand held and lighted mirrors, hair brushes, hair styling implements, decorative hair accessories, liquid hair styling products, conditioners, shampoos, liquid and/or medicated skin care products, fragrances, deodorants, and antiperspirants.

The Housewares segment provides food preparation tools and gadgets, food storage containers, cutlery, household cleaning tools, trash cans, bathroom accessories, storage and organization products, and baby and toddler care products. The Healthcare/Home Environment segment offers thermometers, blood pressure monitors, humidifiers, heating pads, and hot/cold wraps; faucet mount water filtration systems, pitcher based water filtration systems, and refrigerator filters; and air purifiers, heaters, fans, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, and bug zappers. The company sells its products primarily through mass merchandisers, drugstore chains, warehouse clubs, catalogs, grocery stores, specialty stores, home improvement stores, beauty supply retailers, e-commerce retailers, wholesalers, and various types of distributors, as well as directly online to end user consumers. Helen of Troy's owned trade names include:

The Company also markets professional hair and beauty care products under the following trademarks:

References

External links

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