Grohe

Geschichte

Grohe is a sanitary fittings manufacturer with its registered office in Hemer and headquarters in Düsseldorf. Since 2014, Grohe has been part of the Japanese Lixil Group. The company generated consolidated sales revenues of EUR 1.3 billion in 2015. Grohe employs about 6,000 people worldwide.History1911 until 1990: family-ownedThe company started as a ferric hardware factory in 1911 under the name Berkenhoff & Paschedag, located in Hemer, Germany; it was taken over by Friedrich Grohe in 1936, who focused on sanitary faucets only. Before that, Friedrich used to work for his father's company Hansgrohe, founded in 1901. The first order from outside of Germany came in 1938. In 1948, the company was renamed to Friedrich Grohe Armaturenfabrik. In 1961, by which time the company had purchased a factory in Lahr/Schwarzwald, the company set up its first subsidiary abroad, in France. A year later in 1962, Grohe acquired exclusive rights to produce the Moen Mixing Faucet, which mixes hot and cold water with a single lever.In 1968, Friedrich Grohe sold a 51% stake, there were some additions to the Lahr production site and a new logistics deptartment was opened at Hemer-Edelburg.1990s and 2000s: involvement of investorsIn 1991, the company bought two other producers of faucets: Herzberger Armaturen GmbH from the Brandenburg region and Armaturenfabrik H. D. Eichelberg & Co. GmbH at Iserlohn in Westphalia. Grohe was also restructured as a public limited company. By taking over the DAL group in 1994, the company acquired a production site in Porta Westfalica, Westphalia; at the same time, the company also acquired Tempress Ltd. of Mississauga in Ontario (Canada). At the Hemer site, new technology and factory control facilities were opened; in 1996 saw the company expand to Portugal and Thailand. A new design centre followed at the Hemer site in 1997.