| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1986 |
| Headquarters | Clearfield, Utah, USA |
| Key people | Barry Mower, owner Richard Hendrickson, president |
| Products | folding chairs folding tables basketball systems sheds trailers kayaks and paddleboards lawn and garden items fabricated steel products blow-molded plastic items |
| Employees | 1700 worldwide[1] |
| Website | www.Lifetime.com |
Lifetime Products Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of blow-molded polyethylene folding chairs and tables, picnic tables, and home basketball equipment.[2] They also manufacture other consumer products, including sheds, trailers, kayaks and paddleboards, and lawn and garden items, along with OEM steel and plastic items for other companies.
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Lifetime Products uses polyethylene blow molding and metal forming technology to create a variety of consumer and industrial products. Lifetime has the largest single-point blow molded plastics facility in North America, occupying 2,200,000 square feet (200,000 m2), and employs over 1500 people worldwide.[3] Lifetime Products produces the only folding chair to comply with the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association (BIFMA), which defines durability standards testing of commercial-grade chairs.[4] Lifetime also complies with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI),[5] and their basketball systems are evaluated by the American Society for Testing and Materials.[6] Lifetime is headquartered in the Freeport Center in Clearfield, Utah, United States. Vertically integrated manufacturing facilities also reside in Clearfield, with international facilities in Monterrey, Mexico and Xiamen, China.[2]
Lifetime products are available in more than 50 countries. In the United States, Lifetime basketball systems are in sporting goods stores such as Sports Authority, Dick's Sporting Goods, Academy Sports and Outdoors, MC Sports and Modell’s, as well as retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target, and in warehouse clubs such as Sam's Club, Costco, BJ’s, and in regional stores. Lifetime tables and chairs are available at stores including Sam's Club, Costco, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe's.
In 1972, Lifetime Product’s founder, Barry Mower, set out to make a sturdier basketball pole for his backyard. He purchased a small length of heavy-duty used pipe, a piece of plywood, and a basketball rim, and built his own basketball standard. Seeing the potential in what he had constructed, he placed an ad in the local classifieds and made his first sale.
His backyard business eventually became a modest sporting goods store, and in March 1986, became Lifetime Products, a name inspired by the goal of building durable and lasting products. Shortly after, the research and design staff created the "Quick Adjust" basketball system. The concept of adjustable basketball systems transformed the market, making non-adjustable systems obsolete in mass-merchant chains. Shortly after, Lifetime Products became the second largest manufacturer of residential basketball equipment.
Lifetime Products was the first company to provide a complete basketball system in one package, allowing retailers to conveniently stock, display and sell basketball equipment. The complete package concept now dominates the market.[2] After expanding quickly in the first year, Lifetime began to focus on producing more durable basketball rims, and consequently developed a hoop that withstood twice the load of the nearest competitor’s rim.
In the first three years, the company grew to 167 employees and occupied 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of manufacturing, office and warehouse space. New equipment, including an electrostatic powder coating operation and a robotic rim welding system were installed to keep up with demand. A metal fabrication department was also formed to constantly update and improve presses and dies.
Lifetime went on to introduce a blow molded folding picnic table in 1995, a folding banquet table in 1998, a steel reinforced blow molded outdoor storage building in 2005, and the first of its kind fold-in-half trailer (folding to 29 inches (740 mm) wide) in January 2007. They continue to develop portable basketball systems, height adjustments, tables, chairs, outdoor storage sheds, lawn and garden equipment such a wheelbarrows, carts, and revolving compost bins, and utility and camping trailers.
In May 2010, Lifetime acquired the assets of Dragonfly Innovation Corp., a producer of blow-molded kayaks, and kayak production was moved to Lifetime's facilities in Utah. Lifetime kayaks are popular among beginners and casual users, and are designed to prevent flipping.[7] In November 2011, Lifetime acquired Pennsylvania-based Emotion Kayaks, making Lifetime one of the largest kayak manufacturers in the world.[8]
Lifetime Products is still led by its original founder.
Lifetime is currently developing the inexpensive and low maintenance EcoHouse.[2] The EcoHouse is an 11-foot (3.4 m) by 38-foot (12 m) fabricated house made from plastic reinforced with steel. It can be set up quickly, and will be used for impoverished areas, along with providing quick shelter during emergency management and disaster-relief operations.[9]
The EcoHouse uses minimal resources to construct, which results in a smaller carbon footprint than other housing. The homes can be configured to be fully self-sustaining, using solar panels, bio-digester systems, and water tanks.[2]
EcoHouses are manufactured at the company's manufacturing facilities in Utah.[10]
Lifetime Metals produces processed steel items for both Lifetime Products, and for other manufacturers in the region.[11] Services provided include coil slitting and leveling, shearing, stamping with Minster machine presses, tube mill operations, roll forming, and other processes.[12]
Lifetime owns and operates the retail chain Lifetime Store, formerly called Backyards Inc. There are several locations in Utah.[13]