After the boom of the cigar industry in the 1880s, the Binghamton area became increasingly reliant on large manufacturers, with both Endicott Johnson, a shoe manufacturer, and IBM employing 15,000 to 20,000 local workers at their peak. Other companies with a large historical presence included Link Aviation Devices, Ansco, and General Electric. Several other notable businesses started in Binghamton, such as Valvoline, the Nineteen Hundred Washer Company (which merged to form Whirlpool), and "Dr. Kilmer's Swamp Root", a famous patent medicine. Dick's Sporting Goods began as a fishing store in the East Side in 1948, and was headquartered in Binghamton until 1994.