Since its inception in 1968 as a wig store in Downtown El Paso, the business has been dedicated to the beautification of women. The crowning glory has always been the utmost interest of the company and this foundation remained to be its strong focus as it entered into the hair appliance business in 1975. It is through this business that HELE has expanded its offering to the hairstyling industry by supplying hair salons with curling irons and hair dryers. It was through outright acquisition of companies and rights that the business has grown to become a formidable force in the market. From the hair styling industry, it started to expand its offerings by slowly emerging in the personal-care products market.
It has entered into the arena of manufacturing household gadgets in 2004 through the acquisition of OXO, a New York designer which they purchased for $273.2 million. Kaz, Inc. was also bought by the company in 2011 for $271.5 million. The business is in the production of fans, humidifiers and body thermometers under the brand names Honeywell, Braun and Vicks. They are also the owners of brand names Softheat, Kaz and Stinger which were made part of the acquisition.
Most of the products of HELE are manufactured in contracted factories in China. Other personal products are coming from factories in Juarez while products like shampoos and other liquids are manufactured in South America and in the United States. Helen of Troy is a billion dollar enterprise that publicly trades their stocks on the NASDAQ.