About Us - History
Iron Mountain Forge®, now Little Tikes Commercial, first started operations in 1979 inside a 2,000 sq ft warehouse. Located at a campground near Lesterville, MO in an effort to create better picnic tables, fire rings, and grill products than those currently available, Iron Mountain Forge soon became known as the campground supplier of choice. The products that IMF produced were superior to any commercially available at the time. These initial products quickly gained attention in the surrounding areas and soon the first order was placed by the State of Arkansas Parks and Recreation Department with IMF.
In 1980, the business moved into a 30,000-sq. ft. warehouse in Farmington, Missouri, with one truck, one trailer, and five employees. During their first year of operation, the company reached sales in excess of $1 million US dollars. IMF continued to grow and in 1984 had to move again, to its current location. The plant was initially housed in a 50,000 sq ft building that has grown to approximately 275,000 sq ft.
Iron Mountain Forge entered the commercial play systems market with the introduction of the KidBuilders® line in 1985, followed by the Kid Kube line in 1987.
IMF continued to invest in the manufacturing facility and in 1990 added the first plastic rotational molding machine. The plastic rotational molding machine made it possible to manufacture one-piece spiral slides that won “Product of the Year” and “First Place” in the “Large Part Category” by the worldwide Association of Rotational Molders (ARM).
In 1991 IMF purchased the “Wood Builder” product line from Custom Structures, Inc. The line was redesigned and included in the IMF product portfolio.
Rubbermaid® acquired Iron Mountain Forge in 1993 based on the fact that the mission statements and philosophies of both companies were nearly identical, which made the acquisition for both parties, beneficial. Trends, teams, and technologies converged to form the new business, known as Little Tikes Commercial Play Systems, a division of Newell Rubbermaid.
During 1995, Little Tikes Commercial acquired Omni, an indoor play system manufacturer, to provide an entry into the indoor playground market. Paris Equipment Manufacturing Limited, a Canadian company, was also purchased to service the Canadian and European markets. The final acquisition was the purchase of Ausplay, which was completed in order to service the Australian, Pacific, and Asian markets.
In 1998 a devastating fire completely destroyed our rotational molding area in Farmington, MO and severely damaged the rest of the manufacturing facility. Little Tikes Commercial was able to continue production of parts using outside contractors and other Rubbermaid facilities until the facility was completely rebuilt. The re-engineered manufacturing facility resumed operations in the spring of 1999. This new facility led the way to the first “custom-built” manufacturing process in the industry.
In 1999, the Newell Corporation, a large diversified manufacturer of retail products, merged with Rubbermaid to form Newell Rubbermaid, a larger, more vital organization. Our company grew and continued to develop and manufacture commercial playground equipment.
In 2004, PlayPower, acquired Little Tikes commercial to expand its family of brands and product range to better serve all indoor and outdoor recreational customers’ needs, leading to what it is today—the world’s largest recreational play company.