Hansgrohe
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| Societas Europaea | |
| Industry | Manufacturing, Sanitary Fittings |
| Founded | 1901 |
| Founder | Hans Grohe |
| Headquarters | Schiltach, Germany |
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Key people
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| Products | Showers, mixers |
| Brands | Axor, hansgrohe |
| Revenue | 964 Mio. Euro (2015) |
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Number of employees
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3,805, about 40% outside of Germany (2015) |
| Parent | Masco Corporation |
| Website | http://www.hansgrohe.com |
Hansgrohe SE is a German sanitary fittings manufacturer. It was founded by Hans Grohe in 1901, in Schiltach, Germany. Hansgrohe is one of the world’s largest shower head, hand shower and faucet suppliers, next to competitors such as Grohe and KOHLER. Principal shareholder is the Masco Corporation, Taylor, Michigan, United States.
Hansgrohe is not to be confused with the Grohe AG, another German sanitary fittings manufacturer, which has been taken over by Hans Grohe’s son Friedrich.
Hansgrohe has two major shareholders. The family of Klaus Grohe, the founders’ youngest son, holds 32% of the company’s shares, the Masco Corporation 68%. Thorsten Klapproth is chairman of Hansgrohe since 2014. The company sells its products under two brand names: Axor and hansgrohe.
In 2015, Hansgrohe reported a turnover of 964 million Euro (2014: 874 million Euro). The company employs more than 3.800 people, thereof 40% outside of Germany. Hansgrohe manufactures its products in factories in the USA, Germany, France and China. With 34 subsidiaries and 21 sales offices the company is present all over the world. Hansgrohe exports its products into more than 140 countries.
In 1901, Hans Grohe, born in Luckenwalde near Berlin on May 14, 1871, founded the company in Schiltach / the German Black forest region. As a three-man operation, the company began producing metal pressing products, e.g. parts of watches, brass pans and sheet metal showers, but soon concentrated on sanitary metal ware. Export started with the first delivery to Amsterdam, Netherlands in January 1907. By 1919, 3 office clerks and 48 production employees worked for the company.
Hans Grohe started to use a new brass pressing procedure in 1929 and began to chromium-plate his products in 1930. Four years later, his son Friedrich Grohe left the company and took over a company in Hemer, North Rhine-Westphalia, in 1936. While his father Hans concentrated on showers and draining technology, Friedrich Grohe focused on fittings. The company today is known as Grohe AG.
In 1968, Klaus Grohe, the youngest son of Hans Grohe, joined the father’s company and took over its management in 1975. In 1977, he introduced the word and figurative mark Hansgrohe. Under his company leadership, Hansgrohe started to work with external designers in the late 1960s, including Hartmut Esslinger (frog design) and later on Phoenix Design and Philippe Starck. Klaus Grohe also reached out to explore new market segments: In 1981 Hansgrohe began producing faucets and introduced a greywater recycling system in 2001.
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Wikipedia