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Over 150 years of Experience & Innovations
History
1857 - Kährs was founded. Swedish Johan Kähr Sr founded a small turning shop, making household utencils of wood
1919 - AB Gustaf Kähr is founded. Gustaf Kähr, worked hard on the idea of making wood floors in a new way. He succeeded and 1941 Gustaf Kähr received the patent for the multi-layered/engineered wood floor
1955 - Upofloor Oy was founded, manufacturing resilient coverings in Nokia. Production expands in 1960s to include public spaces, resilient mats and flexible vinyl mats
1981 - Karelia Parketti begins from Parkettiliike Väänänen, founded by Heikki Väänänen to engage in hardwood flooring installation, wholesale and imports. Production of hardwood flooring with Karelia trademark begins in 1992
2000 - Karelia Parketti and Upofloor merge to form Karelia Yhtymä group, that became Karelia-Upofloor Oy
2012 - Kährs and Karelia-Upofloor merged, creating a world leading flooring company - Kährs Group
Persistence, curiosity, nose for business and a genuine interest in solving everyday problems in smarter ways. Ingredients of the early operations of what was to become a world leading flooring company. In many ways we are still driven by the same incentives today, transformed to large scale strategies and with our focus solely on putting smarter flooring solutions on the market.
Innovations - Examples of achievements throughout the years:
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1941 – The multi-layer parquet board is born A milestone in Kährs’ history – as well as in the history of wood flooring – was reached in 1941. Gustaf Kähr, grandson of the founder, was granted a patent for the multi-layered parquet board and the world’s first engineered parquet was born. |
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1958 – The first factory-lacquered wood floor Previously, floors were installed and sanded before being lacquered on site. The production of a factory lacquered floor required a high degree of precision to ensure that the surface of the floor was smooth and consistent in use. Kährs introduced an accuracy in production that was unparalleled in wood processing. |
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1984 – Solvent-free lacquer Kährs began its own environmental programme long before it became general practice in the industry. Kährs was the first floor manufacturer to be able to boast an entirely solvent-free production process. |
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2000 – Woodloc®, a world innovation Kährs introduced the world’s first wood floor with a glueless Woodloc® joint. The technology was seen as revolutionary, resulting in faster installation and giving perfect results, as well as eliminating gapping between the boards, caused by climate-change. |
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2004 – The world’s first PVC-free resilient flooring Upofloor became a pioneer in PVC-free floorings with the introduction of safe and environmentally preferable, durable products for areas with heavy wear. |
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2011 – The world's first wood floors made from dual FSC® and Faitrade-certified wood. Kährs manufactures and sells the world's first floor with both FSC® and Fairtrade labeled wood. Dual certification not only supports the restoration of biodiversity in the forests but will help alleviate poverty by bringing a sustainable income opportunity to local tree farmers/foresters. |
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2014 – Upofloor Zero – the world's first PVC free homogeneous contract sheet flooring Upofloor introduces a new homogeneous contract sheet flooring material, specially developed for healthcare and education sectors. Easy to maintain and extremely resistant to staining and scratching yet flexible and simple to install. |
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