Frigidaire kept GM's bottom line cool

The Frigidaire brand would not have become part of General Motors had it not been for Billy Durant, who purchased the fledgling Guardian Frigerator Co. in 1915 from inventor Alfred Mellowes with $56,366.50 of his own money.

Mellowes was attempting to rid the world of the icebox with hand-built, electrified cabinets — with little luck. But GM quickly repaid Durant when it became apparent that automotive-style assembly lines could make refrigerators at a fast clip. GM made the Frigidaire business part of its Delco-Light subsidiary and moved it to Dayton, Ohio.

Frigidaire initially lost money but by 1926 had contributed $15 million to GM's net earnings. The cost to build a refrigerator had dropped from $750 in 1921 to $96 in 1933.

Frigidaire expanded its business to include air conditioning, electric ranges and self-cleaning ovens. For those who could not pay cash, General Motors Acceptance Corp. provided financing.

For World War II, Frigidaire changed its assembly lines to build .50-caliber machine guns and B-29 propeller assemblies.

After the war, Frigidaire expanded its home appliance business to feed America's consumer craze. New products included clothes washers and dryers, dishwashers and food-waste disposers.

In 1953, Frigidaire began building air-conditioning compressors for GM automobiles.

By the mid-1960s, the Frigidaire manufacturing complex in Dayton had grown to the size of 125 football fields — just as the company had sold its 50 millionth appliance.

But the 1970s economic malaise took its toll. GM had to divest some of its holdings to free up cash. Appliances had stayed a maddeningly low-margin business, especially when UAW wages were factored into the bottom line. In 1975, GM split off the automotive air-conditioning unit into Delco Air Conditioning. In 1978, Frigidaire's appliance business lost $40 million on $450 million in sales.

In January 1979, GM announced it had sold Frigidaire to giant White Consolidated Industries of Cleveland for about $120 million. That purchase completed a White trifecta of also buying American Motors' ailing Kelvinator and the remnants of Ford's Philco units at huge markdowns from book value.

The Frigidaire name, product line and distribution system were given to White. GM held on to the sprawling facilities at Dayton. Within two years, Chevrolet was using the site to build diesel engines and the S10 compact pickup.