Made In America: An inside look at Igloo Coolers factory in Texas
"World News Tonight" anchor David Muir has wrapped up the show's 12th annual Made in America Christmas series with a trip to Texas, getting an inside look at the American-made Igloo Coolers and the American factory workers making it all happen.
Outside Houston, Texas, in the town of Katy, it might not be a white Christmas, but things are sure to stay cool thanks to Igloo Coolers' factory.
Igloo was founded in 1947 and today they employ over 1,200 workers, who they say are making over 55,000 coolers per day. That's more than 16 million coolers each year.
As the "World News Tonight" team approaches the front gate of the factory, Muir points out that it's in the shape of their iconic Playmate cooler.
Igloo's Playmate cooler –also known as "America's Lunchbox" – was engineered in 1971. Now, the company is paving the way in the industry again with its ECOCOOL® Collection.
The eco-friendly coolers are made from recycled plastic and are "the world's first hardside coolers made with post-consumer recycled plastic," according to the company's website.
Tested out by Muir himself, the ECOCOOL® coolers will keep your beverages just as cold as the original coolers. Tais Martinez, Head of Human Resources, told Muir that she's proud of the product.
"This is looking forward, isn't it?" Muir asked Martinez.
"It is," she replied.
Muir took a tour through the factory with the Vice President of Operations, Michael Mihelick, meeting some workers in the process.
When asked about what making Igloo Coolers' products in the U.S. means to the company, Mihelick said, "For us, it's everything."
Worker Angela Hernandez has been on the line for 19 years. When Muir met her, she was adding a drainage plug to an Igloo MaxCold 150-quart cooler after a machine behind her punched a hole.
"Anyone who owns a cooler knows the drain plug is really important," he said while watching Hernandez work her magic in the Igloo factory.
Then, Muir caught up with Anqunette Lewis, who worked her way up the ladder at the company.
Lewis started her Igloo career as a janitor. After nine months, she went on to be an e-commerce picker packer, filling orders and helping with warehouse inventory. She later became a corporate mail clerk and is now a manager running Igloo's e-commerce.
"You're going to be running the place!" Muir said in response to her success story.
"I make it happen," Lewis said of getting e-commerce orders to customers in time. "At least in two days. I try my best."
Muir also looked back on the clothing company, Buck Mason, which sells American-made cotton T-shirts. Muir visited the owners, Erik Allen Ford and Sasha Koehn, in their New York store in 2022.
Founded in 2013 in Venice, California, the company started out from a 350-square-foot garage, according to their website.
Since last year's feature, they have opened eight new stores across the nation, including in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, Texas, California, and New York.
They have also bought a 150-year-old sewing factory and cloth mill in Mohnton, Pennsylvania, and brought it back to life.
"When we found out that the Mohnton Knitting Mills was closing, what we saw was an opportunity to rebuild," Ford said.
They rehired 15 workers who had lost their jobs when the factory had closed down. Now, there are 27 workers in all, making 30,000 T-shirts a month.
"There's just such a great feeling knowing that we've kept jobs here," Koehn said.
Full episodes of "World News Tonight with David Muir" are now available to stream on YouTube.
