Description of the Business

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Description of the Business

Description of the Business

Libbey is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of glass tableware products. We believe we are the largest such manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere, in addition to supplying to key markets throughout the world. We believe we have the largest manufacturing, distribution and service network among glass tableware manufacturers in the Western Hemisphere and are one of the largest glass tableware manufacturers in the world. We produce glass tableware in five countries and sell to customers in over 100 countries. We design and market, under our Libbey^®, Crisa^®, Royal Leerdam^®, World^® Tableware, Syracuse^® China and Crisal Glass^® brand names (amongst others), an extensive line of high-quality glass tableware, ceramic dinnerware, metal flatware, hollowware and serveware items for sale primarily in the foodservice, retail and business-to-business markets. Our global sales force presents our products to the global marketplace in a coordinated fashion. We own and operate two glass tableware manufacturing plants in the United States as well as glass tableware manufacturing plants in the Netherlands (Libbey Holland), Portugal (Libbey Portugal), China (Libbey China) and Mexico (Libbey Mexico). Until April 28, 2011, we also owned and operated a plastics plant in Wisconsin. On April 28, 2011, we sold substantially all of the assets of the Traex^® plastics product line, including the Traex name^®, to the Vollrath Company (see note 17 for discussion on this transaction). In addition, we import products from overseas in order to complement our line of manufactured items. The combination of manufacturing and procurement allows us to compete in the global tableware market by offering an extensive product line at competitive prices.