Hunter Douglas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hunter Douglas N.V.
Type Public (Euronext:HDG)
Founded Dusseldorf, Germany (1919)
Headquarters Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Key people Ralph Sonnenberg, President/CEO
Leen Reijtenbagh, Vice President Administration Controller & Assistant Secretary
Marvin B. Hopkins, President & Chief Executive Officer North American Operations
Gerald H. Saltman, Vice President & Managing Director Australian Operations
Aad Kuiper, Vice President & Managing Director Hunter Douglas Europe
David H. Sonnenberg, Vice President Business Development
G.C. Neoh, President Asian Operations
Marko H. Sonnenberg, President Turnils Group
Werner Oppliger, Executive Vice President & CFO
Renato Rocha, President Latin American Operations
Industry Window coverings
Architectural products
Products See list of Hunter Douglas products
Revenue $1.92 Billion Euro (2005)
Net income $179 Million Euro (2005)
Employees 18,000 (2005)
Website www.hunterdouglas.com

Hunter Douglas N.V. (Euronext:HDG) is a Dutch public corporation and major worldwide manufacturer of high-quality window coverings and architectural products. Hunter Douglas has its head office in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and a management office in Lucerne, Switzerland. The company is comprised of 164 companies with 65 manufacturing and 99 assembly plants and marketing organizations in more than 100 countries. Hunter Douglas employs about 18,000 people and had sales in 2005 of EUR 1.92 billion, with the North American market comprising 87% of this total. The company markets under the brandname Hunter Douglas in North America and Luxaflex and Luxalon in the rest of the world.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] 1919-1946

  • 1919: Henry Sonnenberg founded a machine tool distribution and subsequently manufacturing company in Düsseldorf, Germany.
  • 1933: Sonnenberg moved to The Netherlands and established a machine tool operation. In 1940, he moved to the United States where he founded the Douglas Machinery Company.
  • 1946: Sonnenberg established a joint venture with Joe Hunter which developed new technology and equipment for the continuous casting and fabrication of aluminium. This led to the production of lightweight aluminium slats for Venetian blinds. Hunter Douglas, as we know it today, was born.

[edit] 1946-1960

  • Hunter Douglas aluminium blinds quickly gained leadership in the American market. As innovative as the product was the business model for its distribution. Hunter Douglas developed a vast network of more than 1,000 independent fabricators in the United States and Canada. They sold blinds during the day and custom assembled them in their workrooms at night.
  • 1956: Policy differences led to the sale of the U.S. business. Henry Sonnenberg moved Hunter Douglas’ headquarters to Montreal, Canada and, using his European machinery business as a base, concentrated on building the window covering business outside the United States.

[edit] 1960-1980

  • Hunter Douglas expanded its operations in Europe and into Australia and Latin America.
  • 1969: The Hunter Douglas Group went public, and its shares were listed on the Montreal and Amsterdam Stock Exchanges.
  • 1971: Hunter Douglas’ Group headquarters were moved to Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and Hunter Douglas N.V., became the worldwide Group Holding Company.
  • 1976: Hunter Douglas reacquired its former U.S. business.

[edit] 1980-2000

  • Hunter Douglas expanded globally including in Asia and its innovative spirit led to the development of revolutionary new products to meet the increasing demand for fashion and functionality.
  • 1985: Duette® Honeycomb Shades were launched, revolutionizing the window covering industry.
  • 1991: Silhouette® Window Shadings were introduced and achieved rapid success.
  • 1996: Luminette® Privacy Sheers were introduced.
  • 2000: LiteRise® cordless system was launched in the U.S. and EOS® hardware operating system for blinds and shades was introduced in Europe, followed by the UltraGlide® operating system in the U.S.

[edit] Locations

Hunter Douglas manufactures and markets in five geographic markets: Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Australia.

[edit] Europe

[edit] North America

[edit] Latin America

[edit] Asia

[edit] Australia

[edit] Products

[edit] Window coverings

[edit] Shadings & sheers

  • Silhouette Window Shadings
  • Vignette Window Shadings
  • Luminette Privacy Sheers
  • Florette Window Shadings

[edit] Honeycomb shades

  • Trio Convertible Shades
  • Duette Honeycomb Shades

[edit] Traditional shades

  • Provenance Woven Wood Shades
  • Jubilance Roman Pleated Shades
  • Brilliance Pleated Shades
  • Remembrance Roller Shades

[edit] Horizontal woods blinds

  • Country Woods Blinds
  • EverWoods Blinds
  • Traditional Woods Blinds

[edit] Vertical blinds

  • Vertical Blinds

[edit] Horizontal aluminum blinds

  • 25mm Aluminum Venetian Blinds
  • 16mm Aluminum Venetian Blinds

[edit] Shutters

  • Heritance Hardwood Shutters

[edit] Architectural products

[edit] Ceilings

  • TechStyle Acoustical Ceilings
  • Luxalon Metal Systems
  • Solid Wood Linear Ceiling
  • Wood Tiles

[edit] Solar control

  • Sun Louvers
  • External Shades
  • Internal Roller Shades
  • Skylight Systems
  • Light Shelves
  • Control Systems

[edit] Façades

  • QuadroClad
  • Sandwich Wall
  • Multiple Panel

[edit] Community involvement

[edit] Habitat for Humanity

Since 1992, Hunter Douglas has partnered with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat is ranked the 18th largest home builder in the U.S. and the third largest private home builder, working in more than 1,700 locations across the country and completing on average more than 5,000 homes per year and nearly 20,000 homes per year outside the U.S.

To date over 20,000 owners of Habitat homes in the U.S. and Canada have Hunter Douglas window treatments, with the number of window coverings donated exceeding 100,000 units. In addition, Hunter Douglas employees and customers volunteer thousands of hours year-round with local Habitat affiliates nationwide.

[edit] External links


In other languages