Viking Range Corporation is an American appliance company that manufactures kitchen appliances for residential and commercial use. Today the company offers three complete lines of premium appliances including cooking, ventilation, kitchen clean-up and refrigeration, as well as various outdoor appliances.[1] Viking originated the "professional" segment of kitchen appliances with its introduction of the first professional-grade range for home use in 1987. In addition to its "Professional" (and less expensive) "Designer" series, Viking's latest offering is their new "Commercial" line of kitchen appliances for use in restaurant and other commercial kitchens.[2] Headquartered on historic Cotton Row in downtown Greenwood, Mississippi, Viking Range employs more than 1,000 people at four manufacturing facilities in Leflore County. In 2013, the Middleby Corporation acquired Viking Range Corporation for $380 million in cash. Within a couple of months of the acquisition the company laid off one-fifth of its employees.[3]
Viking is not to be confused with the "house brand" of appliances from the Canadian department store Eaton's which went bankrupt in 1999, and which also used the name "Viking.”