Graco (baby products)
Encyclopedia
Newell Rubbermaid
Newell Rubbermaid is a global marketer of consumer and commercial products including such well-known brands as Rubbermaid food storage, home organization, and refuse container products; Sharpie, PaperMate, Parker and Waterman writing instruments; Calphalon gourmet cookware; Goody beauty and...
. It was founded in 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
by Russell Gray
Russell Gray
Russell Gray is a professor at the University of Auckland, located in New Zealand. Although originally trained in biology and psychology, Gray is well known for his studies on the evolution of the Austronesian language family using computational phylogenetic methods.Gray also performs research on...
and Robert Cone (hence the name) as Graco Metal Products, a company that fabricated machine and car parts. After Gray left the company in 1953, Cone moved the company in a different direction, manufacturing the first automatic swing
Swing (seat)
A swing is a hanging seat, usually found at playgrounds for children, a circus for acrobats, or on a porch for relaxing. The seat of a swing may be suspended from chains or ropes. Once a swing is in motion it continues to oscillate like a pendulum until external interference or drag brings it to a...
for children, the Swyngomatic, designed by Harold Kosoff
Harold Kosoff
Harold Kosoff was an inventor. He is credited with inventing the free piston engine and the battery-powered baby swing. Exclusive rights for the battery-powered baby swing were sold to Graco. In addition, Kosoff invented a home air cleaner and chainless bicycle using an arc and pulley...
in 1982. In 1987 the company developed the Pack N' Play Portable Playard portable playpen
Playpen
A playpen is a piece of furniture in which an infant or young toddler is placed to prevent self-harm when her/his parent or guardian is occupied or away. The earliest use of the word playpen cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is 1902...
designed by Nate Saint. It also developed the combination stroller
Stroller
Stroller may refer to:*A form of baby transport*Stroller , men's daytime semiformal wear*Stroller , showjumping champion...
and child safety seat
Child safety seat
Child safety seats are seats designed specifically to protect children from injury or death during collisions. Automobile manufacturers may integrate child safety seats directly into their vehicle's design...
called the Travel System in the mid 90's. In 1998 it acquired Century Car Seat company. It was acquired by Rubbermaid
Rubbermaid
Rubbermaid is an American manufacturer and distributor of many household items. It is a subsidiary of Newell Rubbermaid. It is most well known for producing food storage containers and trash cans...
in 1996, which was acquired to become Newell Rubbermaid
Newell Rubbermaid
Newell Rubbermaid is a global marketer of consumer and commercial products including such well-known brands as Rubbermaid food storage, home organization, and refuse container products; Sharpie, PaperMate, Parker and Waterman writing instruments; Calphalon gourmet cookware; Goody beauty and...
in 1999.
All of their products are certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association
Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association
The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, Inc. is a national trade organization that represents the juvenile industry defined as from prenatal to preshcool...
.
Recalls
Most recently, Graco has been involved in a voluntary recall of several popular models of its strollers and travel systems due to fingertip amputation.On Wednesday, February 9th, Graco quietly laid off 15 employees due to poor business performance. This is the most recent in a series of firings.