The Toro Company
 | |
| Company type | Public company |
|---|---|
| NYSE: TTC | |
| Industry | Turf maintenance |
| Founded | 1914 |
| Headquarters | Bloomington, Minnesota, US |
Key people | Michael J. Hoffman, President and CEO, Chairman of the Board |
| Products | Professional and residential turf maintenance equipment and irrigation systems |
| Revenue |  US$1.7 Billion (2010) |
Number of employees | 6,134 (full-time)[1] |
| Website | www.thetorocompany.com |
 | This article needs to be updated. (October 2013) |
The Toro Company is an American manufacturer of turf maintenance equipment (lawn mowers), snow removal equipment (snow blowers) and water-saving irrigation systems for golf courses, sports fields, public green spaces, commercial and residential lawns, and agricultural fields. The company is based in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
History
Founded as the Toro Motor Company in 1914 to build tractor engines for The Bull Tractor Company,[2] Toro manufactures and sells turf and landscape maintenance equipment and precision irrigation systems for use by landscape contractors, golf course superintendents, sports fields and grounds managers, as well as individual consumers.
In 1986, Toro acquired the Wheel Horse Products Division of American Motors (AMC).[3] Wheel Horse manufactured a wide range of lawn and garden tractors, as well as riding lawn mowers. The division was spun off from AMC so that the automaker could maintain focus on vehicles. Lawn and garden tractors were then marketed under the Toro, Wheel Horse, as well as the Toro Wheel Horse names. Acquisitions continued with the purchase of Lawn-Boy in 1989, James Hardie Irrigation in 1996, Exmark Manufacturing in 1997, Hayter Ltd. in 2005, Rain Master Irrigation Systems and Turf Guard Wireless Monitoring Technology in 2007, TYCROP Manufacturing's turf equipment product line in 2009, and USPraxis, Inc. in 2010.
In the 1990s, then CEO Kendrick Melrose changed the company's strategy, shifting its focus to "professional maintenance markets" (such as golf courses, sports fields, municipal parks, and commercial properties). The strategy yielded higher margins and offered more protection from the uncertainty of weather and economic conditions than the highly competitive residential market segments. In 2007, almost 70 percent of the company's sales came from professional markets, versus one-third in 1990.
On Dec 5, 2001, Toro adopted new accounting rules the Emerging Issues Task Force had issued and restated the prior periods. The adoption of these rules had no effect on operating earnings or net income.
In 2007, the low-end lawn and garden tractor product manufacturing was outsourced to MTD Products, to be sold at Home Depot stores.[4]
Brands
The company's products are marketed under several brands[5]:
- Toro — professional and consumer mowers, irrigation systems, compact utility equipment, snow blowers, and handheld trimmers and leaf blowers
- eXmark — commercial mowers
- Lawn-Boy — consumer mowers
- Irritrol Systems — irrigation systems for residential and commercial landscapes
- Lawn Genie — consumer irrigation
- Pope (Australia) — garden maintenance solutions
- Hayter (United Kingdom) — consumer and professional mowers
References
- ^ Employees, Number of Employees
- ^ The Toro Company History, History 1910-1919
- ^ Company history 1980-1989 at The Toro Company; retrieved on 2008-06-27.
- ^ The Toro Company, Press Release, 01/05/2006, retrieved on 2008-06-27.
- ^ "The Toro Company - Our brands". Toro Company. Toro Company. Retrieved 2015-06-04.