1986, the Hoover family sold the company to the Chicago Pacific Corporation, which was created using the remnants of the bankrupt Rock Island Railroad. It was acquired by Maytag Corporation in 1989. On Friday, 6 March 2009, Hoover confirmed that it would discontinue production of washing machines and other laundry products at its Merthyr Tydfil factory, Mid Glamorgan from Saturday, 14 March 2009; giving the reason, the company stated that it could no longer manufacture competitively priced laundry products at the plant. Hoover had initially announced its closure intentions on Tuesday, 18 November 2008, beginning a period of staff consultation. The company was established in the town just over sixty years prior, its factory at Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil, opening on 12 October 1948. Though 337 jobs were lost because of this decision, Hoover UK anticipated retaining its headquarters, logistics, storage and after sales service functions at the site, with some 113 workers retained. In 2019, Hoover opened a new head office in Warrington, Cheshire. It retained a distribution centre at Pentrebach. Popular Hoover machines The Junior Introduced by Hoover Limited (UK) in the 1930s, the Hoover Junior is a smaller upright type vacuum for apartments or small houses which was easy to carry around. The Junior was very popular in the UK; Hoover sold millions of them, and it became the biggest selling vacuum there. Various models were produced, with the final machine being manufactured in 1987. Hoover Limited made Juniors for export to the US from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s. The exported Juniors were converted to American electrical standards by The Hoover Company in North Canton, Ohio. Finding a Hoover Junior in the USA is quite rare. The Junior was never referred to as such in the USA; it was tagged in official Hoover literature as the Lightweight Upright. The Dirtsearcher Introduced again by Hoover Limited (UK) in 1969, was a development of the Junior with a Model 638 style headlamp fitted in place of the tool adapter cover at the front. This model the 1354 went on to be the most successful UK Hoover manufactured model selling in both European and Commonwealth markets, however it was never sold in the US, although there were 110 V versions of the UK-market Juniors sold in Canada (such as the 1354A). They were sold alongside the Junior and Senior/Ranger models becoming the now rare models U1016 and U1040. The