Curtis Mathes Corporation

Curtis Mathes Corporation

Industry	Electronics
Founded	1957
Founder(s)	George Curtis Mathes
Products	Television
Employees	5,000 (peak)
Parent	Connor and Mathes (est 1919)
Website	http://curtismathes.webs.com/ http://www.curtismathes.com/

Curtis Mathes Corporation is a North American electronics retailer based in Garland, Texas specializing in the sale of private label brand electronics and repair services. It manufactured it own brand of televisions in Athens, Texas until July 31, 1982; ten years later, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization which allowed it stay in business and use future earnings to pay off creditors.

Known for its commercials proclaiming its televisions were the "most expensive" and "darn well worth it", the company was credited with introducing longer warranties to electronics retailing.

History

The Curtis Mathes Corporation started in 1919 as Connor and Mathes, a manufacturer and retailer of automobile and tractor parts. By the late 1920s, the company moved into the air conditioning industry. It also manufactured wooden cabinets and eventually furniture, acquiring Hub Furniture in 1942.

The Curtis Mathes Corporation was founded in 1957 and entered the television industry. On June 2, 1983, its chairman, George Curtis Mathes Jr, 54, was one of twenty-three passengers killed in the Air Canada Flight 797 fire, which started in a rear lavatory. The company then began to die a slow death, going from a peak of 5000 employees and seven manufacturing facilities to about 50 employees in 1988 when it was sold to Enhanced Electronics. At the time of this sale, it was the last remaining fully U.S. owned electronics company. For a time, the company sold equipment sourced from Matsushita, Pioneer, Thomson, Samsung, Daewoo, Toshiba, and other manufacturers. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, the Curtis Mathes brand, formerly advertised as the most expensive, became an in-house brand for the KMart discount chain. As of late 2007, Curtis Mathes has re-emerged with products marketed at several discount retailers such as Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Meijer and Target.

External links

• http://curtismathes.webs.com/
• http://www.curtismathes.com/
• http://www.curtismathes.com/index1.html