Step2
Rotationally molded toys and home products made at two plants in northern Ohio.
🏭 American Manufacturing
Our assessment
Company details
Where Step2 products are made
Headquarters and one of two Ohio plants. Step2 is, by its own account and by industry reckoning, the world’s largest rotational molder of plastics — a scale that only makes sense with domestic capacity, because the finished goods are mostly air and expensive to ship.
The second northern Ohio plant. Two facilities in one state is an unusual footprint for a toy company of this size, and it is the reason Step2 can say the majority of its line is made in the USA.
Ground polyethylene powder is poured into a mold, the mold is bolted shut and rotated slowly through an oven and two cooling chambers. The powder melts, coats the mold, and hardens as it cools — producing a hollow, seamless, single-piece part with no weak joints.
The founding year and the manufacturing description are published by Step2 on step2.com; the two Ohio plant locations and the majority-made-in-USA statement come from the company’s own published FAQ. Step2’s own qualification that some products and components are imported is why the American Manufacturing label is used.
The story
Thomas G. Murdough Jr. had already built one company on rotational molding before he founded this one — he understood that a process invented for industrial tanks could make children’s toys that were hollow, seamless and effectively unbreakable. In 1991 he started Step2 on that idea, plus a philosophy he described simply as quality and value backed by customer service.
The process is the whole business. Polyethylene powder goes into a bolted mold, the mold turns slowly through an oven and two cooling chambers, and the plastic melts into the shape and hardens. There are no seams to split and no fasteners to work loose, which is why a Step2 kitchen or climber survives a decade of children and then gets handed to the next family.
The company grew from toys into home and outdoor products — planters, storage, address plaques, rain barrels, patio furniture — and in 2023 into the pool category. The manufacturing base stayed in northern Ohio the whole time.
Why they matter
The American toy industry is, with a handful of exceptions, no longer American. Step2 is the largest domestic manufacturer of preschool and toddler toys and it holds that position with two plants in one state, which is a rare thing to be able to say in this category.
The economics are unusual and they favour staying home. A rotationally molded playhouse is mostly enclosed air; shipping it across an ocean costs a fortune relative to what it sells for. That is a real structural advantage for domestic production, and Step2 has built its footprint around it rather than fighting it.
Step2 is also honest about the limits of its claim. Its own FAQ says the majority of products are made in the USA and that some products and components are imported, with imported items meeting US regulations and standards. A company that qualifies its own origin claim is easier to trust on the part it does assert.
Shop Step2 products
Browse Step2 toys and home products stocked on the Buy American Campaign store.
Frequently asked questions
Are Step2 products made in the USA?
The majority are. Step2 states in its own FAQ that most of its products are manufactured in the USA at two northern Ohio plants, in Streetsboro and Perrysville, and that some products and components are imported. That qualification is why we label Step2 American Manufacturing rather than Made in USA.
Where is Step2 located?
Headquartered in Streetsboro, Ohio, with a second manufacturing plant in Perrysville, Ohio.
How old is Step2?
Founded in 1991 by Thomas G. Murdough Jr., who pioneered the use of rotational molding in consumer products.
What is rotational molding?
Ground polyethylene powder is poured into a mold which is bolted closed and rotated slowly through an oven and two cooling chambers. The powder melts, takes the shape of the mold and hardens as it cools, producing a hollow one-piece part with no seams or fasteners.