Brio (company)
Brio, usually written as a brand name BRIO, is the name of a Swedish toy company. The company's firm arose from the abbreviation Bröderna Ivarsson Osby ( " Brothers Ivarsson Osby ").
The most famous product of Brio Wooden Railway is their system, with wood in the entire product range of the company plays a central role.
Company History
Ivar Bengtsson (* 1860, † 1948) grew up in the southern Swedish Picketorp. In 1884 he married Sissa Persdotter and moved with his wife in the small town of Boalt, where he had a small punnet Workshop Ivar Bengtsson Korgfabrik Boalt ( Ivar Bengtsson Basket Factory Boalt ). As the company grew, the family moved in 1902 according to Osby order. 1907 more than 170 different products have already been ordered. 1908 took over Ivars three sons Victor, Anton and Emil Ivarsson, the company, which was registered as " Bröderna Ivarsson Osby " in the following year. The company grew rapidly: in 1909 included the catalog offer 999 different articles, 1912, 2700 permanent employees at 10 employees and a turnover of 155,000 Swedish crowns.
In the course of time, Brio has become one of the most powerful toys trading company in Scandinavia with sales of wooden toys that were hand-crafted tradition in southern Sweden. The Brio trademark appeared for the first time in 1930 on two wooden toy trucks, which then cost about two crowns.
1937 Brio was a limited liability company. With 150 employees, the company achieved a turnover of 4.3 million Swedish crowns.
Anton's son Lennart headed the company from 1952 to 1978 and built it into an international company. The world-famous Brio train came mid-1950s on the market.
1983, the Swedish game company Alga was taken.
1984 founded the company at its headquarters in Osby the BRIO Lekoseum, a toy museum in which it own products and those of other business issues (for example, Barbie dolls and Märklin model railways). With many of the exhibits, visitors can also play.
In 1997, the Group had 1,000 employees with a turnover of 1.41 billion Swedish crowns.
The Brio Group maintains offices in ten countries and serves approximately 50 countries. While the products are now produced in China, develops and tests Brio continue in Osby. Brio toys are all over the world to be especially carefully crafted, play fair and secure childhood companion. The German subsidiary was established in 1974. Since then it has been three times awarded the title of " trading partner No. 1" the toy trade. Many Brio toys were excellent play well with the predicate.
By 2004, initiated Dag and Bengt Ivarsson, the sons of Lennart Ivarsson, the fourth generation of the company.
Since 2004, the Swedish investment company Proventus is the main shareholder in Brio. The company's sales amounted to 27.7 million euros in 2008.
Today Brio is one of the world's largest toy manufacturers and suppliers with approximately 500 employees.