The company faced competition as rivals moved into this emerging market, and introduced its trademarked silhouette in the 1930s with the model "K", the work of designer Egmont Arens.

A late 1980s promotional campaign on the back of an expansion by retailer Williams Sonoma saw brand awareness double in three years.

In 1917, Hobart stand mixers became standard equipment on all U.S. Navy ships, prompting development to begin on the first home models.

[1] The first machine with the KitchenAid name is the ten-quart C-10 model, introduced in 1918 and built at Hobart's Troy Metal Products subsidiary in Springfield, Ohio.

[2] Prototype models were given to the wives of factory executives, and the product was named when one stated "I don't care what you call it, but I know it's the best kitchen aid I've ever had!"

[3] But owing to the difficulty in convincing retailers to take up the product, the company recruited a mostly female sales force, which sold the mixers door-to-door.

[1] The C-10 machine was also marketed heavily toward soda fountains and small commercial kitchens, and was also sold under the FountainAid and BakersAid model names.

In 1988, retailer Williams Sonoma was opening new stores across the United States and released a cobalt blue stand mixer for the company.

The brand was further promoted by sponsoring the PBS show Home Cooking, and by introducing the mixers to television chefs such as Julia Child and Martha Stewart.

[11] In 1997 the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art selected the KitchenAid stand mixer as an icon of American design.