Victorinox - Household and professional knives

7 1989 2014 2020 2020 1999 1989 – 2020 1989 Market entry for “Watches” under its Swiss Army brand in North America with its former U.S. sales partner. 1992 Opening of the first sales subsidiary in Japan. 1994 Establishment of Carl and Elise Elsener Gut Foundation with the mission to support national and international charitable projects. 1999 Market entry for “Travel Gear” with the American TRG Group in St. Louis as licensee. 2000 Establishment of the Victorinox Foundation which holds 90 % of the share capital of Victorinox AG. The remaining 10 % belong to the non-profit Carl and Elise Elsener-Gut Foundation. 2001 Launch of a clothing line in the U.S. and opening of the first Victorinox store in Soho, New York. 2005 Acquisition of the long-standing Swiss knife and watch manufacturer Wenger SA in Delémont. Wenger remains an independently operating subsidiary of Victorinox. 2007 Carl Elsener IV takes over the company management and further expands Victorinox as a global multi-product brand. Establishment of Victorinox Swiss Army Fragrance AG. 2008 Opening of the first European Victorinox flagship store in London. 2011 Opening of the Swiss Knife Valley Visitor Center in Brunnen, Switzerland. Carl Elsener III gets inducted into the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame. 2013 Integration of the Wenger knife business into the Victorinox brand. 2014 Acquisition of the travel gear business from previous licensee and establishment of the new business unit Victorinox Travel Gear AG. Opening of a store at a prime location in the city center of Zurich. 2016 Opening of the Watch Competence Center in Delémont, Switzerland. 2017 Discontinuation of Apparel to focus on the core product categories. Production of 500-millionth “Original Swiss Army Knife”. 2018 Ground breaking for a new distribution center in Seewen, Switzerland. The investment of some CHF 50 million represents a clear commitment to the Schwyz location. 125th anniversary of Wenger. 2019 Our products are now available at over 50,000 points of purchase worldwide, including 80 retail stores and shop-in-shops, as well as in our own flagship and brand stores. At each point of sale, the Victorinox brand experience is made tangible for our consumers. 2020 Opening of the distribution center in Seewen. Relaunch of Fragrance line.