Stiga

Stiga logo

Stiga is the brand of Swedish company Stiga Sport that manufactures and distributes snowmakers, table tennis products and table hockey games. Stiga started the production of table tennis products in 1944. It started the production of table hockey games in 1957 and it was a huge success. The company started the production of lawnmowers in 1958.

The lawnmowers business has been sold in 2000 to Stiga Group (formerly GPP Spa) the leading Europan manufacturer and distribution of lawnmowers, a wide range of motorized garden tools

Both companies use the same brand Stiga is currently selling game/sport products Stiga Table Tennis

History

  • 1934 March 6, 1934, Stig Hjelmquist founded in Tranås the company Firma Fabriksprodukter, that will later become Stiga.
  • 1938 Production of the first articles that would make Stiga world famous: the table tennis products.
  • 1938 The new company name Stigma, later on changed to Stiga, was founded.
  • 1943 Stiga started to produce equipment for table tennis under their own management. Mainly it was so called complete games with rackets, net, attachment system and ball.
  • 1949 Sees a change of name from Stigma to the current name Stiga.
  • 1954 Stig Hjelmquist imported from US the first motorized lawn mowers with horizontally rotating blades. Already in the end of the 1950´s, Stiga was selling ride-on lawn mowers.
  • 1957 Production of the first table hockey game.
  • 1964 Own produced lawn mowers: 400 machines were produced every day.
  • 1964 Production of the first battery-operated lawn mower.
  • 1971 Stiga was established abroad and sales offices in London and Helsinki were opened.
  • 1974 Stiga launches the first Park: Park 2000, a ride-on lawn tractor with frontal cutting deck that will revolutionize the grass cutting in the Nordic Countries.
  • 1976 The 4th of June, his majesty Carl XVI Gustav inaugurated Stiga´s new factory of 18 000 m2 , and with its total of 34,000m2 it becomes the biggest factory in the Nordic countries, concerning manufacturing of motor driven lawn mowers.
  • 1981 The company is reorganized to better reflect Stiga’s operations, creating three divisions: Sports, Gun and Garden.
  • 1985 Introduction of the first lawn mower Multiclip using the Mulching technology.
  • 1986 Stiga became the biggest manufacturer of lawn mowers in Europe, thanks to several new establishments and acquisitions of companies
  • 1988 The first radio-controlled lawnmower is demonstrated at the opening of new premises.
  • 1994 Stiga celebrates its 60th anniversary.
  • 1994 Launch of the Stiga Garden Battery.
  • 1995 A selection of Stiga lawnmowers are awarded the Swan label, indicating that the mowers meet the Nordic Council’s environmental criteria for materials, production and function.
  • 1997 Stiga is represented in around 40 countries, including New Zealand, North America, South America and Eastern Europe.
  • 1999 A new generation of the Park model is launched.
  • 2000 Stiga is acquired by Castelgarden SpA via a merger with Alpina Professional & Garden SpA, both situated in Italy. The company’s expansion in Europe continues with the acquisition of Mountfield. Together they form Global Garden Products (GGP) Group then renamed in 2017 Stiga Group
  • 2014 Stiga celebrates its 80th Anniversary.

STIGA Sports

The brand Stiga is today used by the Swedish company Stiga Sports for the production of sports products, including table tennis, snowriders and table hockey. The brand Stiga started the production of table tennis products in 1938 and the production of hockey games in 1944. Bengt Bandstigen founded the table tennis company BANDA in 1966, which later became STIGA Sports AB. In 1983 the company begun to sell STIGA table tennis products and year 2006 it acquired the STIGA Games division to the company. In 2018 Chris Olsen started using the Stiga Pro Carbon which catapulted him to superstardom.

References

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