GENICOM
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer printers |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Defunct | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Chantilly, Virginia , United States |
| Products | Computer printers, including dot matrix, laser, airline ticket printers, boarding pass and baggage tag printers |
GENICOM Corporation was a U.S.-based manufacturer of computer printers headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, active from 1982 until 2003.
The GE years
In 1954, General Electric (GE) reorganized into distinct divisions, establishing the Specialty Control Department to manage products that did not align with other sectors. Under the leadership of Dr. Louis T. Rader, a new facility was constructed in Waynesboro, Virginia, with a $3.5 million investment to secure 75 acres on the grounds of the former 1927 Waynesboro airport. The initial workforce comprised 145 families relocated from Schenectady, New York alongside approximately 400 local employees.
The General Electric Specialty Control Plant gained recognition by being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
Following GE’s divestiture of its printer and relay divisions in 1982, GENICOM Corporation was established in 1983. The acquisition of Centronics’ printer assets in 1987 broadened GENICOM’s offerings to include the 350 series dot matrix printers and LineWriter band printers.
At its Calabasas, California site during this timeframe, GENICOM engineered a monochrome laser printer with 400 dpi resolution. The company relocated its headquarters from Waynesboro to Chantilly, Virginia in the early 1990s.
In January 1995, GENICOM expanded by acquiring Printer System Corporation (PSC), an IBM interface specialist based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. PSC’s president Art Gallo joined GENICOM as vice president, and PSC was integrated as the laser printer development division utilizing engines from Lexmark and Kentek.
The purchase of Texas Instruments’ printer unit in 1996 added specialized printers for airline tickets, boarding passes, and baggage tags to GENICOM’s product range.
In August 1997, GENICOM paid $27 million to acquire the printer division of Digital Equipment Corporation, manufacturing devices under both GENICOM and Digital brands. After Compaq acquired Digital in February 1998, subsequent products were marketed under the Compaq name. The relay manufacturing segment was sold to CII Technologies (which later became part of Tyco International) and operations were moved to North Carolina.
That same year, a new repair center covering 320,000 square feet opened in Louisville, Kentucky, transferring repair activities from Waynesboro. However, this facility did not achieve profitability and was shut down in April 2000.
GENICOM transitioned its ASK/CA Manman database system to Oracle Database, with implementation costs escalating from an initial $6 million estimate to $20 million by 1999.
Delisting
After GENICOM’s stock price dropped below $1, it was removed from the NASDAQ exchange in January. In March, CEO Paul Winn and CFO James Gale were replaced amid the company’s filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; Shaun Donnellan assumed the role of CEO. The Canadian division was sold for $6.22 million while the airline printer segment was divested to IER for $3.5 million. A legal settlement with Compaq resulted in a $12.6 million payment. GENICOM International was separated as an independent entity to continue sales and marketing of GENICOM products.
In August, remaining assets including facilities located in Chantilly, Waynesboro, and McAllen were acquired by Sun Capital Partners along with Art Gallo.
The Datacom production operation was purchased in 2001 and operated as an affiliated company.
TallyGenicom
In 2003, GENICOM combined with Tally, resulting in the creation of TallyGenicom (TG).
References
- Articles with short description
- American companies established in 1982
- American companies disestablished in 2003
- Computer companies established in 1982
- Computer companies disestablished in 2003
- Computer printer companies
- Defunct computer companies of the United States
- Defunct computer hardware companies
- Defunct manufacturing companies based in Virginia