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History

A Company Built on Innovation, Quality and Customer Service

Norcold is proud of its rich, near 60-year history… from humble beginnings, through periods of rapid growth, to today’s position of industry leadership.

Norcold was founded in 1959 in California to manufacture and sell specialty refrigerators to the RV and Marine industries. As the recreational industry prospered, so did Norcold, rapidly growing from a small, family company to an industry “player” with unlimited potential.

In early 1963, Norcold was acquired by the Stolle Corp., an Alcoa company, and greatly expanded its refrigerator lines. To better supply customers in the Midwest and accommodate rapid growth, Norcold moved to its current Sidney, Ohio, location in 1964 and began producing refrigerators there exclusively.

Sound business decisions and attention to detail helped Norcold weather industry downturns of the early 1970’s and late 1980’s.

For example, when a competitor bought its primary cooling unit supplier in 1988, Norcold responded quickly and dynamically. Within a year, it built a state-of-the-art cooling unit manufacturing plant in nearby Gettysburg, Ohio, that satisfied Norcold’s needs and produced higher quality products than its vendor had supplied.

Purchased by Thetford Corporation in 1997, Norcold’s growth and innovation continues today, most recently with the introduction of the Polar Series of RV refrigerators in 2018.

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