 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Kitchen accessories |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Headquarters | Olean, New York, United States |
| Products | Cutlery Kitchen knives Pocket knives Garden tools Scissors |
| Website | www |
Cutco Corporation, formerly Alcas Corporation, is an American company that sells cutlery, predominantly through multi-level marketing. It is the parent company of CUTCO Cutlery Corp., Vector Marketing, Ka-Bar Knives, and Schilling Forge.
The company has been the subject of criticism and lawsuits for its business practices, and has been accused of being a multi-level marketing company. The Los Angeles Times claims that Vector meets the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) definition of a multi-level marketing company which is "businesses that involve selling products to family and friends and recruiting other people to do the same" because they sell their product through person-to-person sales. Salespeople are generally young and recruited from high school or college. Students are hired to sell Cutco products (mainly kitchen knives) to customers, starting with their friends and family. Vector's recruitment tactics have been described as deceptive, and they have faced numerous lawsuits over their pay structure and treatment of its salespeople, who are mostly independent contractors instead of employees. Vector claims they are a single-level direct selling marketing company, not a multi-level marketing company or a pyramid scheme as its detractors claim.
The company was founded in 1949 by Alcoa and Case Cutlery (hence "Al-cas") to manufacture stainless steel knives for Alcoa's WearEver Cookware division. Alcoa purchased Case's share in the company in 1972, and Alcas became a separate private company in 1982 after a management buyout.[1] In 1985, the company acquired Vector Marketing Corporation.[2]
In early 2009, Alcas changed its name to Cutco, the name of the primary product.[3]
- ^ "CUTCO Cutlery: History". www.cutco.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Cutco Company History[permanent dead link]
- ^ Shaw, Jeff (2008-12-08). "Alcas changing its name to CUTCO". Olean Times Herald. Olean, New York. Retrieved 2020-12-06.