Coldspot & Kenmore

[kalanikaau1]

We once owned a top mount Coldspot fridge in the early '60's, it lasted an eternity.
Did Sears simply eliminate the Coldspot name for their refrigeration appliances and group it under the Kenmore line, does anyone know when this happened?

 

[jr2712]

Coldspot out, Kenmore in

Aloha Jeff!

Sears decided to merge the lines of refrigerators, freezers, dehumidifiers and air conditioners that had been sold under the Coldspot brand to the Kenmore brand by 1977 if I'm not mistaken.

Here in Venezuela the last products with the Coldspot label arrived in March 1977 and by December of the same year all the refrigerators and air conditioners were Kenmore.

Greetings from Maracaibo.

 

[kalanikaau1]

Aloha from Hawaii!

That sounds entirely logical for Sears to do, for marketing simplicity reasons.
I see where you are a Frigidaire person, I hope you are referring to the brand when GM owned them as they were excellent appliances then.
Now that the brand is marketed by Electrolux, they are, IMO absolute garbage...

 

[qsd-dan]

According to Wikipedia (not always a reliable source), the "Coldspot" name was used from 1928-1976.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coldspot

Your early 60's Coldspot refrigerator probably had a Seeger rotary compressor, no surprise it lasted for an eternity.

 

[fan-of-fans]

We have a Kenmore side by side at work in the break room, made by Whirlpool in 2001.

The model/information sticker inside has both the Kenmore and Coldspot brands shown on it.

I wonder if any newer units have it, from what I understand in order to keep a Trademark active it has to be used in some way every few years, so my guess is that’s why it was noted on the tag in that case.

 

[launderess]

Sears phased out Coldspot back in 1976/1977 because research found that it was confusing consumers. People didn't see need for "Kenmore" branded fridges and so forth because they believed "Coldspot" was a different stand alone product.

As for Whirlpool connection, originally Coldspot fridges and other appliances were made by Seeger Refrigeration company. Seeger was purchased by Sunbeam creating "Seeger-Sunbeam". Whirlpool got their mitts on Seeger next (Whirlpool-Seeger) and refrigeration appliances were made at former International Harvester Plant in Evansville, Indiana. You can suss Sears refrigerators (Coldspot or otherwise) by looking for "106" prefix as part of model number which identifies Whirlpool as maker.

Thanks to NAFTA in 2006 WP shut down Evansville plant moving production to Mexico.

https://www.courierpress.com/story/...-lesson-refrigerator-capital-world/397103002/

http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/coldspot.htm

https://trademarks.justia.com/712/99/coldspot-71299231.html

https://uspto.report/TM/71622036

Crosley now owns version of Coldspot TM
https://uspto.report/TM/97570411

post was last edited: 6/15/2024-17:24]

 

[kalanikaau1]

"106"

Indeed, the 106 prefix does indicate that the product was manufactured by Whirlpool.
Would you believe that as little as 5 years ago, certain online Sears "appliance specialists" would tell me that a certain appliance was manufactured by Kenmore while on a online chat?
I had to inform the person that Kenmore makes NOTHING, and it's just a name Sears plasters onto appliances made by others.
If I remember correctly I was inquiring about a fridge, it was either a Samsuck or LG, you could not GIVE me one of those woeful fridges...

 

[kalanikaau1]

lasted for an eternity

Indeed, it did, it was our kitchen fridge, the very first on we owned with an automatic icemaker.
It was finished in the then fashionable "Coppertone"

 

[mattl]

My folks bought a bottom freezer Coldspot in'62, it ran great for 45 years. I replaced the defrost heater at one point and the timer a bit later. At the end it just quit cooling,  was a beast to get out of the basement.

 

[combo52]

Whirlpool built refrigerators

Whirlpool kept the Segger designed rotary compressors in production until sometime around 1984 or five.

Whirlpool actually never had problems with compressors in refrigerators with the exception of a Matsuiti rotary compressor that was used for about two years around 1990 - 1992 in their built-in refrigerators and a very limited number of top freezer 18 and 20 ft.³ models.

In my opinion, whirlpool built the best refrigerators from about 1960 on, GE would be the next best choice. They had some great models from the 50s on but they had a lot of compressor problems and then around 2000 when they went electronic they had an awful lot of control problems, especially with their side-by-sides.

GM Frigidaire built some good refrigerators in the 60s. They started to have a lot more problems in the 70s and of course went away by 1980. John

 

[kalanikaau1]

1960 on

That, in my opinion that ended in 2018-2019, to wit:
I own a POS Whirlpool french door fridge purchased new in early 2018, from day 1 it has been plagued with a multitude of issues ranging from the sealed refrigeration system to door gaskets.
Bad enough to the point where the extended warranty underwriter (which I very wisely bought) has written it off.
In its place is a Bosch french door unit, it's just 1 1/2 years old.
I am convinced that nobody makes a decent and reliable fridge anymore, one that will last at least 5-6 years before it's ready for the scrap heap.