A company with history

From a "School of Painting" to an international partner to retailers. [more]
 
Tip-A-Friend
Printversion
Choose a language

Painting Tools & Supplies since 1896

School of Painting for Decorative Wall Design
STORCHWERKE Headquarters in 1910
  • 1896 Merger to form a "School of Painting for Decorative Wall Design" with stencil production. Registered in the Commercial Registry Elberfeld
    (today a ward of Wuppertal) by the Decorative Painters Brückmann, Boysen and Weber.
  • 1910 Registration of STORCH® as a trademark and the formation of STORCHWERKE. Start of our own brush production to be followed later by roller production in Germany.
  • 1929 Sample roller production in the subsidiary plant located in Niemes/Czech Republic. Leader in the production and sale of brushes and pattern rollers in Germany. At this point - the company had more than 200 employees.
  • 1946 Reconstruction in Wuppertal, after 80 % of the company was destroyed.
  • 1958 First provider to sell electric tools such as orbital sanders, steam wallpaper removers and low pressure paint sprayers under the STORCH® brand name to professional contractors and painters.
  • 1976 Horst Rogusch, a grandson of the company founder, takes over the reigns of the company. Organizational modernization. Company Sales 1975: 3.1 Mil. Euro.
  • 1986 Restart of our own production of COVER QUICK®, the innovative painter's tape and masking products, rollers and wall papering equipment (1986 company sales approx. 11 Mil. Euro). Today the company has six factories in Europe and two production sites in China that cover all product groups. Formation of our own company for sales to distributors.
  • 1991 Start of the formation of subsidiaries for sales to retailers in Western and Eastern Europe. Today the company has 12 sales subsidiaries.
  • 1992 Opening of the Logistics Centre in Berka/Thuringia.
  • 1996 Establishment of a Holding-Structure though the formation of STORCH HOLDING GmbH, Wuppertal.
  • 1998 Launch of the COLOR EXPERT brand for POS-centered retail.
  • 1999 Formation of today's COLOR EXPERT GmbH located in Wuppertal.
  • 2002 Formation of proTeam direct GmbH for the processing of transit shipments originating from production sites directly to retailers.
  • 2003 Expansion and modernization of the Logistics Centre in Berka/Thuringia with space for 30,000 pallets.
  • 2004 Formation of a brush production site in China.
  • 2005 Expansion and modernization of production. Opening of a new Logistics Centre in Pelhrimov/Czech Republic.
  • 2006 Expansion of the production spectrum at the Pelhrimov/Czech Republic site with the start of the painters' tape conversion. Start of brush production at the new site in Zhejiang/China.
  • 2007 Expansion of the Logistics Centre in Porvoo/Finland. Formation of a subsidiary in Romania. Expansion/modernization of the production capacities for COVER QUICK® at the Pelhrimov/Czech Republic subsidiary.
  • 2008 Formation of a subsidiary in Russia. Start of roller refills and brush production at the new production site in Sid/Serbia.
    Market entry in UK/IRL: COLOR EXPERT GmbH acquires Robert J. Hall in Leeds/Great Britain.
  • 2010 Launch of 3K-Technology production at our Sid/Serbia plant.
  • 2010 ColorExpert-Storch-Group and Ciret-Group announce their Production-Joint-Ventures-Agreement for all production sites.
  • 02/2011 CIRET HOLDING AG shareholders and the Storch Holding GmbH partners adopt the resolution to merge both holding companies. The holding will be formed under the "Storch-Ciret Holding GmbH" (GSC) name no later than mid 2011 with the registration of the Holding in the commercial registry. The seat of this Holding is Wuppertal.
    The merger of the two companies results in a leading expert for the Painting and Decorating Tools market in Europe.
    The familiar independence of the approx. 25 existing Sales, Logistics and Production companies will be maintained at those locations in which the customers' interests -namely profitable business - are best being met.
    The company's 7 production sites produce Painting and Decorating Tools for the professional and DYI markets across the globe. When the Group of Companies merge - its approx. 1,600 employees will generate annual sales of about 200 Mil. Euro.
  • Today, COLOR EXPERT, with its 15 independent Sales & Distribution Companies in Europe, is among the market leaders in the Painting and Decorating Tools market.