Late 20th century
In 1973, Rockwell International Corp., renamed the Sterling Faucet division as the Building Components Division.[24] Rockwell started manufacturing faucets under the Rockwell brand.
On January 10, 1974, the Building Components division of Rockwell International informed the closing of its plant in Tyler Texas citing duplication of production facilities. The plant had 150 employees at the time of the announcement.[25]
On November 7, 1977, Rockwell International Corp, informed it may sell the Building Components division since there were several prospective buyers. It was also announced it will close the plant of Reedsville, West Virginia merging it with the operations of the plant in Morgantown, West Virginia. After the closing of the Reedsville Plant, the operations of the division remained in the plants of Sheridan, Arkansas, and Morgantown, West Virginia.[26]
In 1978, William W. Boyd and David C. Wright bought the company to Rockwell International and renamed it as Sterling Faucet Company. The company was reformed as a privately held firm.[27]
in 1980, Sterling introduced to the market the Accent brand of faucets.[28]
On January 26, 1984, Kohler Co. announced the purchase of Sterling Faucet Co. Kohler officials mentioned the purchase will allow the company to enter in the economy end of the faucet market, expand its markets and broad the product lines. As part of the acquisition, the brass foundry and injection molding plant of Morgantown, West Virginia and the assembly and injection molding plant of Sheridan, Arkansas (were 700 and 250 workers were employed respectively) became part of Kohler. The Sterling and Accent brands were integrated into Kohler Kitchen & Bath family of products.[29] After the acquisition, Kohler started expanding the offering of Sterling branded products adding in the following years, tube doors, shower doors, corner shower enclosures, bathing fixtures, vitreous china fixtures, and other bathroom accessories to the existing faucets line.[30]
On December 29, 1986, Sterling Faucet Co. announced the acquisition of Polar Stainless Products Inc. which owned a plant in Searcy, Arkansas since 1965[31] and employed 150 workers.[32] The acquisition brought stainless steel sinks to the Sterling family of products.
In 1987, Sterling Faucet Co. purchased the Bath Products Division and related patented technology of the then struggling company, Owens Corning. The purchase included a manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama that was built in 1972. This purchase brought the Vikrell (a poly-resin/plastic and fiberglass compound) line of bathing fixtures to Sterling.[33]
On March 31, 1988, the company was renamed as Sterling Plumbing Group Inc.[34] Sterling Plumbing Group focused in the manufacturing and marketing of a full line of plumbing products for the Hardware/Home Center, Plumbing and Hardware wholesale, Builder and Specialized OEM market channels.
On November 16, 1988, Sterling bought Kinkead Industries (a subsidiary of USG Corporation) and its manufacturing plant in Union City, Tennessee. This purchase added folding shower doors, tub and shower enclosures to the Sterling family of products.[35]
From 1994 to 1996, the faucet operations at Morgantown, West Virginia were transferred to facilities in the cities of Sheridan and Malvern, Arkansas.[36] At the same time, the corporate offices moved to Rolling Meadows, Illinois.
On July 2, 1999, the company Sterling Plumbing Group Inc. was merged with Kohler Co.[37] By the end of the year, the logos located in the facilities of the Sterling Plumbing Group were replaced by the Kohler logo.
