Just for conversation. Christmas of 2010 my 2 year old Brother machine died and I wanted a new sewing machine, didn't want another Brother or a Kenmore. I knew I wanted a Janome. After shopping all over the internet, found a nice one on Overstock.Com for around $300. It had all the bells and whistles that I wanted and was a great price, they said the machine was originally $600. When I received it I was surprised to see that the Janome brand name that was on the machine was a little clear sticker that was obviously stuck on the machine after another brand name had been removed. The owners manual stated the machine was a Janome. Well I made some phone calls and did some investigating and found out that the machine had originally been branded a Sears Kenmore, produced in the Janome factory, but for whatever reason (???) had been returned to the factory (probably for defect repairs or was a customer return)) and at that time was re-branded as a Janome. At first I was highly upset over the whole situation, but my local sewing machine repair shop advised me that if it was made in a Janome plant, it was made to Janome specs and he felt I got a great deal on it. So I kept the machine and I have been using it for over a year now and I simply love it, has a beautiful stitch and is a really strong machine. Only goes to show we don't know where our products are made or in whose factory.