A family story | Groupe Louis

The experience of a family group

1920-1923

QUINCAILLERIE GREFFIER & LOUIS
Edmond Greffier (1st generation) becomes the 1st employee of the Gehors’ hardware store at Pont Haudaudine. On the death of his husband Gehors in 1920, Edmond Greffier bought and transferred the hardware store to 4 Quai de Tourville in Nantes.

It was at this time that Edmond Greffier noticed that the SHMIDT company in Tours was manufacturing and selling galvanized buckets at a higher price than black steel buckets. Edmond Greffier proposed to Villaine et Merveilleux (galvanizers for shipyards), located in Chantenay, to buy them out. They agreed, on condition that their son Marcel Merveilleux, a fitter at Renault in Billancourt, was hired to work in galvanizing. Edmond Greffier bought the company and moved Galva de Chantenay to rue Bias in Nantes, parallel to the Quai de Tourville but behind the hardware store. The first galvanizing bath was created, measuring 3m long by 1m deep by 1m wide. At the time, the bath was heated with coke (coal).
1946
SOCIETE NOUVELLE DE GALVANISATION
Creation of the Group’s first plant dedicated solely to hot-dip galvanizing, following a partnership between Edmond Greffier, his son-in-law René Louis (2nd generation) and Marcel Merveilleux. Galvanisation rue Bias becomes Société Nouvelle de Galvanisation and is transferred to 32, rue La Noue Bras de Fer in Nantes.

1946
1954

SOCIETE NANTAISE DE GALVANISATION
Société Nouvelle de Galvanisation is renamed Société Nantaise de Galvanisation.
1956
TOLERIE DE LA LOIRE
Charles Louis (3rd generation), one of the sons of René Louis (2nd generation), leaves the SNCF to join his brother Edmond Louis in transforming the Greffier & Louis factory on Quai de Tourville, then specialized in the manufacture of sawdust stoves, bolsters, butter churns and tin milking buckets, into a fine precision sheet-metal works: La Tôlerie de la Loire is created. The site specializes in the manufacture and sale of all types of black and galvanized sheet metal. The company gradually turned to custom-made products, producing, for example, the dashboard for the first TGV high-speed train and the doors for the New York subway.

1956
1959

GALVANISATION DE SAINT NAZAIRE
Charles Louis and his brother Edmond Louis set up the second 7m-long galvanizing plant in Saint-Nazaire, nicknamed G.S.N., by purchasing shares in land consolidation rights following war damage. The company was then located in rue du Parc à l’Eau. The aim of this new unit was to offer an alternative to the 5 m galvanizing process that was being integrated into the Atlantic shipyards at the time. A few years later, galvanizing operations at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique ceased, and the components to be treated were transferred to the Louis brothers’ Nazairi plant.
1968
GALVA ATLANTIQUE
Edmond and Charles Louis (3rd generation) continued to expand their business, setting up a third Groupe Louis galvanizing unit in June 1968 at La Rochelle Galva Atlantique. The aim was to offer a solution adapted to long lengths.

The location of the production unit was determined by its proximity to an SNCF spur line, enabling EDF pylons to be transported by rail. Over the years, the company has developed, adapted and structured itself. Galva Atlantique is still located on its original site in La Rochelle, in the Chef de Baie industrial zone.

1968
1972

GALVA METAL
The Louis brothers once again joined forces to create Galva Métal, which began operations in June 1972 on an SNCF branch line site offered by the Angers town council.

This was the Louis Group’s third plant specializing in structural steel treatment, and its fifth. The Galva Métal plant is still located on its original site in the Écouflant industrial zone, on a 40,000 m² site, 13,000 m² of which is covered.
1989
GALVA MAINE
Edmond’s two children, René and Patricia Louis, buy the Galvelpor company, which manufactures and galvanizes pig farming equipment. The aim is to expand and provide a local solution for numerous customers in the northern Mayenne region.

This was the birth of Galva Maine. The plant has since been restructured and is still located on its original site in Villaines-La-Juhel.

1989
1990-1992

GALVA TRAITEMENT SURFACE (GTS)
A number of manufacturers join forces to create a hot-dip galvanizing plant in Loudun, in the north-western part of the Vienne department.

Two years later, René and Patricia Louis (brother and sister) bought the galvanizing business in Loudun, and it became Galva Traitement Surface, nicknamed G.T.S. The aim was to expand geographically into the Centre-Val de Loire and Poitou-Charentes regions.
2000
GALVA TRAITEMENT SURFACE (GTS)
G.T.S. undertakes major renovation work, and embarks on the construction of a second hot-dip galvanizing unit, which becomes Unit 2.

Unit 2 is being built on the same site as unit 1, to absorb the growing volumes from neighboring départements.

2000
2005

GALVA ANJOU TOURAINE
René and Patricia Louis take over Galva Anjou Touraine, a subsidiary of R.T.N. specializing in the manufacture of trailer axles. Its founder, Alain Thibault, had decided three years earlier to build his own hot-dip galvanizing plant in the immediate vicinity of the manufacturing unit. In 2005, the galvanizing business was in dire straits. The surface treatment unit was bought by René and Patricia Louis.

This fifth plant, named Galva Anjou Touraine and nicknamed G.A.T., specializes in processing small and medium-sized parts.
2023
LEMERCIER ANJOU
The LEMERCIER company, next door to Galva Métal in Angers, was founded in 1890 by Mr. LEMERCIER, initially specializing in forging and structural work.

Over the decades, the company moved towards industrialization, particularly in industrial subcontracting from the 1950s onwards. Between 1980 and 1990, the integration of numerical controls enabled LEMERCIER to concentrate on machining parts and sheet metal work. In 2023, the Louis Group acquired LEMERCIER Anjou and began modernization work.

2023
2024

DUPLEX METAL
Creation of DUPLEX MÉTAL.

The experience of a family group

1920-1923

1946

1946

1954

1956

1956

1959

1968

1968

1972

1989

1989

1990-1992

2000

2000

2005

2023

2023

2024

Groupe Louis