The honest answer to who makes Kenmore appliances is that Kenmore itself never has — it has always been a house brand rather than a manufacturer, first used by Sears back in 1913, with the first Kenmore washing machine arriving in 1927. Sears built its appliance business by contracting real outside manufacturers to build and rebadge products under the Kenmore name, and that same model continues today under the brand’s current owner.
1913 to the Present
Kenmore’s history stretches back further than most shoppers realize — the name was first used by Sears in 1913, and the first Kenmore-branded washing machine reached customers in 1927, decades before most of today’s appliance categories even existed in home-appliance form. Throughout that century-plus history, the constant has never been a Kenmore factory; it has always been a rotating cast of contracted manufacturers building to Sears’, and later Transformco’s, specifications.
From Sears House Brand to Transformco
Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2018, and its assets, including the Kenmore trademark, were acquired by Transform SR Brands LLC — commonly known as Transformco — through a bankruptcy auction that closed in February 2019. Since then, traditional Sears retail stores have almost entirely closed, and Kenmore products are sold mainly through kenmore.com and Amazon, a retail partnership that began in 2017.
The Real Manufacturers Behind the Badge
What has not changed across this ownership shift is the underlying manufacturing model: Kenmore appliances are built by a handful of well-known outside manufacturers, identifiable by the first three digits of the model number. Whirlpool builds units under the 106, 110, 198, 664, 665, and 850 prefixes; LG builds the 795 and 796 prefixes; Frigidaire/Electrolux builds the 253, 336, 417, 587, 622, 628, 719, 790, 791, and 970 prefixes; GE builds the 362, 363, and 464 prefixes; Broan builds the 233 prefix, used specifically on range hoods; and Amana, itself Whirlpool-owned, builds the 174, 335, and 596 prefixes. Our model number decoder guide walks through exactly how to check your own appliance against this table.
Why This Matters for Repair
Understanding that Kenmore is a badge rather than a manufacturer explains a lot about how these appliances behave in the field — why a Kenmore dryer might show an F1 code (Whirlpool-style) on one model and a d90 code (LG-style) on another, for instance, as we cover in our Kenmore dryer not heating guide. It also explains why genuine OEM replacement parts have to be sourced by the correct underlying manufacturer rather than by the Kenmore name alone, a process our parts lookup guide covers in detail.
The Tiers: Kenmore, Elite, and Pro
Across these OEM partners, Kenmore has also sold three real product tiers — mainline Kenmore, the premium Kenmore Elite line, and the professional-styled Kenmore Pro line, which is concentrated almost entirely in cooking appliances. Our Kenmore vs. Elite vs. Pro comparison breaks down how these tiers actually differ.
A Brand Built on Trust, Not Manufacturing
For most of the twentieth century, this arrangement worked well for consumers precisely because Sears held its OEM partners to consistent quality standards under the Kenmore name, even without owning a single factory itself. That reputation is why the Kenmore name still carries weight today, even as the company behind it, and the retail channels it sells through, have changed substantially since the 2018 bankruptcy and 2019 acquisition.
What This Means for You
None of this history changes what your appliance needs when something breaks — it just explains why the fix and the part depend on the real manufacturer behind your specific model rather than on “Kenmore” as a single design. Our experienced independent technicians work across the full range of Whirlpool-, LG-, Frigidaire-, GE-, Amana-, and Broan-built Kenmore appliances, using genuine OEM parts and backing every repair with a 30-day labor warranty.
Schedule service for your Kenmore appliance and we will identify the real OEM builder before we touch a single part, backed by a 30-day labor warranty. For current product lines, visit kenmore.com. Browse model information or find a location near you. See our refrigerator repair service for appliance-specific help.
