Pirex Case

UVA-OM-1323

Rev. Feb. 21, 2014

PYREX

On the first day of her MBA internship in 2006, Leena Baran was greeted by World

Kitchen’s Steve Trussell, vice president of global sourcing, and Andrew Pullenza, the newly

hired director of purchasing. Within a few short minutes, she was given her assignment: make a

recommendation on a make-versus-buy decision for PYREX, the company’s strongest brand.

The aging PYREX plant needed to have a major equipment replacement within two years. On

top of that, the labor contract with the union workers that was being negotiated was perilously

close to an impasse. Should World Kitchen continue to produce the product line itself, or should

it build inventory ahead of a plant shutdown and begin purchasing the products from overseas?

History of World Kitchen and PYREX

World Kitchen, LLC, manufactured and marketed bakeware, cookware, dinnerware,

kitchen and household tools, range-top cookware, and cutlery. Its brands included PYREX,

CorningWare, Corelle, EKCO, Baker’s Secret, Magnalite, Chicago Cutlery, and OLFA. The

company was formed in 2000 with the backing of buyout specialists Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts &

Co. (KKR) as a combination of three separate organizations: Corning Consumer Products,

EKCO Group, and General Housewares. In 2004, World Kitchen sold its popular OXO line of

products to Helen of Troy for approximately $275 million, helping it continue its recovery after

emerging from bankruptcy in 2003.

PYREX, the product line and brand originally created by Corning, was World Kitchen’s

oldest brand and among its most recognized names. In the early 1900s, Corning Glass Works

created a glass product to be used by railroads, which regularly had to replace broken lamps

resulting from rain or snow striking the hot glass. Corning developed a low-expansion glass that

could withstand the abuses of weather and rough handling. The shatterproof lantern was so good

that Corning experienced a decline in sales from the...