Gardena (company)

The company Gardena GmbH, located in Ulm (Germany), is a manufacturer of gardening tools. Since 2006, Gardena has been a member of the Husqvarna Group of companies.Management board Sascha Menges (Chief Executive Office)Production sites in Germany Ulm (headquarters) Gerstetten, district Heuchlingen (plastics processing) Niederstotzingen (metal processing)Subsidiaries worldwide GARDENA Manufacturing GmbH, Ulm Advanced Plastics s.r.o., Vrbno pod Pradědem GARDENA Deutschland GmbH, Ulm Other sales subsidiaries in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Canada, South Africa, Australia, China, Russia and SloveniaCompany history 1961 founding of Kress + Kastner GmbH by the merchants Eberhard Kastner (*1928 †2004) and Werner Kress. 1966 brand name Gardena is created, change of company name to Gardena Kress + Kastner GmbH 1968 introduction of garden hose connection system (Original GARDENA System) 1976 introduction of gardening tools with changing handles (GARDENA combisystem) 1996 initial public offering at the stock exchange as GARDENA Holding AG 1999 new chief executive officer Dr. Wolfgang Jahrreiss 2002 sale of company of founding families to Swedish private equity fund Industri Kapital 2003 delisting of Gardena stocks, change of company name to GARDENA AG 2004 sale of US subsidiary Melnor, Inc.; new chief executive officer Martin Bertinchamp 2006 acquired by Swedish Husqvarna AB. At the time of acquisition, the company had approximately 2,800 employees worldwide (including 1,600 in Germany), and an annual turnover of 393 million euros. 2007 transformation and re-listing in German Trade Register as "GARDENA GmbH"