Well-being: The state or condition of being well; welfare; happiness; prosperity.
I recently purchased a few of the relatively new Pyrex® Snapware® containers. I love the lid tabs, which make a “snap!” sound when you close them around the container.
While making room for them in my kitchen cabinet, I realized I had quite a few Pyrex pieces.
I’ve been using Pyrex my entire adult life. When I moved into my first apartment after high school graduation (44 years ago — gah!), the first two items I purchased were a Pyrex measuring cup and a casserole dish. The casserole did double duty as a pot because I didn’t have anything to cook with. A few months later, the woman for whom I cleaned house gave me a set of Revere Ware stainless pots with the copper bottoms for Christmas.
I still have, and continue to use, the casserole and the Revere Ware; not sure what happened to the measuring cup. It sometimes amazes me that we travel through life and certain things stay with us the entire journey.
I also have a vintage Pyrex Ware Color Bowl Set I purchased at an antique store 30 years ago — and use them daily. They give me so much pleasure. (I’m positive I paid more than $2.49 however!)
As I looked over what I had — and checked the bottom of each piece for the “Made in USA” stamp — I thought, “Oooh, this would make a great blog write up.”
I actually didn’t know that much about Pyrex and assumed it was still owned by Corning. I was also surprised the products are still made in America.
After a few minutes of preliminary research, however, I learned that yes, Pyrex is still made in the USA, but its future is quite uncertain.
A (sort of) brief history of the “brand”
Introduced by Corning, Inc. in 1915 to solve the challenge of glass breaking at high heat, Pyrex was an instant success. Corning sold over 4 million pieces the first four years of production and an additional 26 million over the following eight years. (All source links below.)
Corning Inc., which today makes Corning® Gorilla Glass, display glass, and pharmaceutical glass, divested its consumer product lines, including Pyrex, by selling the Corning Consumer Products Company (later known as Corelle Brands) to Borden in 1998.
Yes, the Borden foods company. From 1857 to 2001, Borden, Inc. was an American producer of food and beverage products, consumer products, and industrial products. The company ran into significant financial trouble in the 1990s, and after a leverage buyout by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1995, the company divested itself of its various divisions, brands and businesses. KKR shut Borden’s food products operations in 2001 and divested all its other Borden operations in 2005. (Source: Wikipedia)
Corelle Brands, which includes Corelle Dinnerware, Chicago Cutlery, Snapware, and CorningWare, was acquired by Instant Brands, the manufacturers for Instant Pot. Instant Brands was formerly known as Double Insight Inc.
According to Wikipedia, Instant Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2023. During the bankruptcy proceedings, the company sold its appliance business, including the Instant Pot brand, to Centre Lane Partners.
A private investment firm, Centre Lane Partners is located in New York and owns several brands, including Lenox Corporation and Anchor Hocking, another beloved American company. I have a set of vintage glassware.
The sale of the Pyrex brand and related assets to Centre Lane was terminated in December 2023 due to regulatory challenges. In February 2024, Instant Brands, owned by Centre Lane Partners, emerged from bankruptcy under the Corelle Brands name.
Are you following all of this? I took me a bit to trace all this history as it’s a little confusing — especially since Corning still retains the license for the Pyrex trademark, which is used by Corelle Brands.
I didn’t know Snapware was its own brand and includes plastic storage and Pyrex glass storage containers. And, I didn’t know Lenox and Anchor Hocking each have their convoluted histories as well.
A town is set to lose its manufacturing center and heritage
Here’s where the Pyrex story gets interesting — and why it was hard to trace exactly what’s happening. In March 2024, Anchor Hocking, owned by Centre Lane, took over the Charleroi manufacturing plant where Pyrex products are contract manufactured; in September 2024, Anchor Hocking announced the facility’s closing and said they would be moving production to its Lancaster, OH facility.
A borough in Washington County, PA, Charleroi was settled in 1890 by immigrants from Belgium and incorporated as a borough in 1891. A year later, the Charleroi Plate Glass Company built a plant in the town — which I believe is the existing Corelle Brands plant (the dates line up).
Charleroi soon became one of the most important glassmaking centers in the world, nicknamed “Magic City.” (Source: The Jewish Encyclopedia of Western PA)
The manufacturing plant has a 132 year history of manufacturing Pyrex and glass products. According to Pittsburg’s NPR station WESA, before the announced closing, the plant employed around 300 people. Now 100 or so people remain.
You can understand why closing the current plant is a huge blow to the town and its citizens — it’s their history and heritage. One worker interviewed held up a glass blowing tool his grandfather had used at the factory.
The closing has been delayed several times. As of February 20, 2025, workers were told the plant would remain open another three months. Currently, two production lines continue to hum.
“Some workers have retired early or moved on to other jobs at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works. Some have tried to get work at the General Electric plant in Speers,” reads the WESA news report.
While the national election was in full swing in 2016, much attention was paid to Charleroi and its American manufacturing story. According to WESA, “then-Republican Senate candidate, Dave McCormick, came to town during his campaign to take up the workers’ plight.”
However, with the election now over, “neither McCormick, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro or Sen. John Fetterman responded to questions about their efforts in Charleroi,” reports WESA.
In other words, no one is coming to rescue Charleroi.
Manufacturing is about people — not “brands”
“Maybe what we need isn’t another round of self-reflection, but a quiet revolution of small, meaningful actions. . . . These moments might seem small, but they remind us of something vital: our individual flourishing is inextricably linked to the well-being of those around us.” — Kai Brach
So many of our iconic American products have been relegated to “brands.” As a marketer, I’ve come to detest the word and how it’s currently used. Substituting “brand” for “company” makes it easy to “divest” the business units and products.
The orphaned brands are then sold repeatedly like used cars by private equity firms. Production is usually (not always) off-shored to increase profits — even if profits are already healthy.
The people who did the work are an afterthought — in effect, they’re the equivalent of office chairs.
I get it — companies have to make a profit. As my old boss used to say, “We’re not in business to lose money.” I personally work hard to ensure my own small business makes a profit and am thrilled when my clients do so as well.
But profit at what expense? Killing a small town? Losing the generational skills and knowledge that were part of a time-honored tradition? Telling people to go do something else after a lifetime of producing products that make life better for everyone — including their own?
All I know is, I find it sad and frustrating that the iconic products I grew up with are no longer made here. I don’t have to drive far to see a huge empty facility where hundreds of workers were employed.
In Haverhill, the town next door to mine, the Southwick Clothing Factory, which made mens shirts and suitings for Brooks Brothers, closed in 2020. Brooks Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy the same year, was purchased by Simon Properties and Authentic Brands.
This is why I support American manufacturing
The second largest employer in Haverhill, MA, the Southwick facility employed 400 workers — and was a true success story. Take the three minutes to watch the video — and listen to the pride in people’s voices as they talk about their jobs and what it means to be “Made in America.”
Four hundred highly skilled people without a job. Where did they go? What are they doing now? What happened to their families? Haverhill is a solid middle-class, mostly blue collar city. Stable, well-paying jobs such as those found at the Southwick facility aren’t easy to come by.
What the Southwick facility, and the Pyrex story, tell us is this: The products we use every day aren’t “brands.” They’re comprised of people — our neighbors, friends, and families.
It’s these people who are forgotten when a “brand” is sold and then milked for profits when production is moved elsewhere. Not all consumers read labels; they see a “brand” name and buy it, not knowing it was made overseas and then shipped in by companies who simply do not care — or who use “sustainability” messaging to pretend they do.
As I say all the time, I can’t change the world or solve all the problems. But, I can choose what I’ll buy.
I’ll continue to support American manufacturing and the people who make the products we use as much as I can — through this blog, my work with manufacturers, and with my purchasing decisions. I’ll continue to buy Pyrex as long as it’s made here.
In the meantime, the Charleroi plant is still making product — so now is the time to buy new Pyrex items if you need them.
You can also buy vintage items on eBay, Etsy, or Replacements Ltd. Search for “vintage pyrex” — you’ll find lots of pieces and sets! You can also check out your local thrift store or antique shop.
What do you think? I’d love to hear your comments — leave them below.
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Links
Wikipedia — To find any of the companies listed in the article, do a search using Wikipedia’s search function. They’re not hard to find.
Corelle Brands — Official site for Pyrex, CorningWare, Snapware, etc.
The Pyrex Collector — Read the history of Pyrex, find patterns, plus resources for dating any vintage pieces you own.
“Charleroi’s glass plant workers ‘in limbo’ after closure delayed fourth time,” by Oliver Morrison, WESA, date: February 20, 2025
“Workers at Corelle Brands glass plant fighting to keep jobs after unexpected closure announcement,” by Cara Sapida, WPXI-TV, date: September 20, 2024
The Jewish Encyclopedia of Western PA — Charleroi
Full Disclosure
I’m not paid nor asked to write about products or the companies that make them. All links in this piece are FREE — meaning, they’re not sponsored or paid for.
My mission is to keep manufacturing jobs stateside and this blog is my way of giving back. We like to think a “small” choice, such as purchasing something made in the US, won’t make a difference. It does.
