In 1991, Young Chang invested US$32 million to establish a subsidiary in Tacoma, Washington, Young Chang (America) Timber, to cut and process North American spruce and maple for export to its Asian manufacturing sites. In 1990, Young Chang purchased Kurzweil Music Systems, a maker of high end electronic and digital musical instruments. The success of this facility was one factor leading to the 1995 establishment of a piano manufacturing facility in Tianjin. In 1988, Young Chang established a foundry for production of piano plates in Tianjin, China, to supplement production of this key component, also produced in Korea. Young Chang subsequently sold this subsidiary to Samsung America in 1987. In 1986, the company established Weber Piano Company, which sells pianos under the Weber brand name, which it had purchased rights to use after the demise of the Aeolian Piano Company in 1985.
In addition to guitars and pianos ( vertical and grand varieties), Young Chang produced in the late 1990s harmonicas, reed organs and industrial woodworking machinery. However, because of the similarities to the Fender brand and instruments, Young Chang could not sell the Fenix instruments due to licensing issues with Fender, and production stopped. ĭuring the late 1980s and early 1990s, Young Chang manufactured Squier electric guitars and basses for Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, and also manufactured acoustic, acoustic/electric, electric guitars and basses under their own "Fenix" brand. The first Young Chang factory was built in Seoul in 1964. : E–8 The company was founded by three brothers, Jai-Young Kim, Jai-Chang Kim and Jai-Sup Kim, as South Korea emerged as a major economy and producer of high quality goods. Young Chang was founded in 1956 as a distributor of Yamaha pianos for Korea and other parts of Asia. This brand was established specifically for English-speaking markets where a Korean brand name, as opposed to a German or American name, might be a disincentive to purchase. The company also markets under an alternative brand, Weber, held by subsidiary Weber Piano Company established in 1986. : E–9 The company had at one time produced Wurlitzer pianos for United States-distribution by Baldwin Piano & Organ, but this relationship was terminated prior to the late 1990s. : E–8 Young Chang produced pianos for Nakamichi of Hamamatsu, Japan until 1998 the units were modified by Nakamichi before export to the United States.
For instance, it began producing Cline pianos for Cline Piano Company of Belmont, California in 1992 and began producing Knabe pianos for Music Systems Research of Sacaramento, California in the late 1990s. The company also produces pianos for other companies. : 3–1 Young Chang reported sales in the United States, China, Canada, Korea and the European Union under its own brand. : E–8Īs of the late 1990s, Young Chang, at the time known as Young Chang Akki Company, : 3–1 was among the largest of the world's manufacturers of pianos, alongside Samick, Yamaha and Kawai, : xiii and one of five multinationals producing pianos.
The company's Tianjin manufacturing site is run through subsidiary Tianjin Young Chang Akki Company, Limited, while the Tacoma sawmill is managed through subsidiary Young Chang America Timber, Incorporated. The company also maintained a research and development facility in Waltham, Massachusetts. Piano manufacturing took place in plants in Seoul and Incheon, South Korea, both established in 1964, and Tianjin, China, established in 1995. The sawmill was located in Tacoma, Washington and was established in 1991. Young Chang had four manufacturing facilities as of 1999, three producing pianos and the fourth a sawmill producing wood for export from the United States.
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