Tradition since 1952
ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT INCLUDED: WOUNDWO can look back with pride on an exciting history. In 1952 Walther Grün set up the wholesale company “Plastica” in Graz, and started supplying plastic products for the retail sector. The company’s range mainly included housewares such as plastic tubs, eggcups and drinking cups and glasses, but it also featured protective covers for writing implements. Walther Grün recognised the future of this new material that was finding its way into people’s homes. His motto was “Ein Unternehmer ist der, der etwas unternimmt” (“An entrepreneur is someone who undertakes something”), which continues up to the present day to be both a driving force and a guiding principle for WOUNDWO.
1952 to 1982
Between 1952 and 1982, the company experienced a period of growth, driven by the pioneering spirit of the company’s founder. The company reinvented itself over and over again. Walther Grün passed on his entrepreneurial spirit and his curiosity to his two sons, who soon joined the family business. In 1965, the company started focusing on its current product line – sun protection systems. The acquisition of a Swedish licence to manufacture blinds in Austria marked the beginning of this new phase. In 1975, the production of Venetian blinds, roller shutters, awnings and folding doors was increasingly successful. As a result, a second business location was established in Graz’s Kärntnerstraße: 6,000 m² devoted to the manufacture of sun protection products. No one could have foretold that, just seven years later, this site would need to be enlarged first by 2,000 m², and then once again to a total of 12,000 m².
The year the WO&WO brand was born
With “WOhnen drinnen & WOhnen draußen” (“Living indoors and living outdoors”), in 1994 the company relocated once again, in order to devote itself exclusively to “sun protection design” at its new site in Graz. Under this name, the first ever comprehensive manual for the industry was published – from the pen of WOUNDWO. Just a year later, the specially developed iso-design interior blind was launched; the model was enormously successful. Licences were sold throughout Europe, which had a significant impact on the manufacture of exterior blinds and on market development in Slovenia. In Maribor the company entered into a joint venture with Sonal, and shortly after that WOUNDWO acquired the firm Rotec in Oberkochen, Germany, and founded WO&WO-Rollladentechnik GmbH. In 1998, we acquired 74% of the shares in Dolenz Gollner GmbH, Austria’s largest awning manufacturer. Awnings and façade shading systems were added to complete the product range.
2000 to 2009
The first decade of the new millennium was all about growth. In 2000, Dolenz Gollner was fully integrated into the group of companies, although the brand remained. As a result, the company now also had a world-wide presence with the export of parts: the competence centre at Hall in Tyrol was established. This has now been enlarged to include a logistics centre. The Hall location is becoming known as a global system provider of components relating to quality awnings. New markets are being developed in the components sector: in 2003 we acquired the company Erwilo in Bochum, Germany, which, in addition to its own range, produces WOUNDWO awnings for, among others, the French WOUNDWO subsidiary at Collégien near Paris. In 2009, Foliflex Königstetten moved into the WOUNDWO store in Vienna and has been incorporated into the firm as a brand.
WOUNDWO IN THE CHANGE OF TIMES
Before WOUNDWO became part of the Munich-based industrial holding, the Grün family decided in 2006 to sell the company. Negotiations with Bavaria’s Haas Group were very positive, and there was soon talk of a joint future. A year later, WOUNDWO achieved the highest turnover in the company’s history. In 2015 the ADCURAM Group, whose founders are every bit as dynamic as Walther Grün was, bought the company. As a result, the company has on board a financially strong owner who will actively pursue our shared vision as we move into the future.
OPENING COMPETENCE CENTER GABERSDORF
WOUNDWO’s new Competence Center in Gabersdorf is a place of innovation and technology, opened in 2020. Equipped with the most modern machinery and equipment, the center offers the possibility to produce textile sun protection systems of the highest quality. The opening of this manufacturing center is an important step for WOUNDWO to strengthen its capabilities in the production of sun protection systems and to expand its production capacity. It is also a sign that WOUNDWO is always looking to improve and rise to the challenge of producing the best sun shading systems in the world.
WE ARE PART OF THE SFPI GROUP
SFPI Group acquired WOUNDWO in the summer of 2022, giving the company the opportunity to strengthen its market position in sun protection and offer its products and services on a larger international stage. The WOUNDWO brand offers a wide range of solar shading solutions for residential and commercial use, and the products are of high quality, developed according to the latest standards and technologies, and produced exclusively in Europe. SFPI Group, as a leader in the security industry, supports WOUNDWO in achieving its future goals and further growth.
