Izola is a Greek home appliance company. The production facilities are in Poland and the company is a subsidiary of G.E. Dimitriou SA In the past, the facilities were located in Thebes where a wide range of electrical appliances such as refrigerators, kitchens, televisions and water heaters were manufactured. It is a typical example of Greek entrepreneurship in the industrial sector during the post-war period and the period of electrification of Greece.
The company was founded in 1930 by refugees from Asia Minor with activity initially in the trade of plumbing items and pipes, while in 1937 it came under the full control of Panagiotis Drakos. Under the leadership of Georgios Drakos, son of Panagiotis, Izola gradually became one of the leading companies in the industry: in 1951 it built the first Greek kitchen and the following year the first electric refrigerator. The vision of the family, which was also reflected in the advertisements of the time, was “to bring culture to every home”. At the same time, G. Drakos proceeded to the formation of new companies, collaborations and mergers, creating the Izola group. Some of them were the United IBS Pipeworks in collaboration with the Svoronos and Stasinopoulos families, while it had collaborations with foreign companies producing electrical appliances, such as Whirlpool, Philips, Rheem, Ignis. During the 60’s and in the early 1970s the Izola group also increased its participation in a number of companies, such as Lavreotiki SA, Azinko SA, Metal Construction SA, VES SA, Xylani SA, Izologgaz A .Ε. etc. It is no coincidence, after all, that G. Drakos was a member of the board of directors of SEV for a number of years, but also president of the association from January 1958 to April 1960 and from April 1962 to April 1966.
Izola, who in the early 70’s was on the list of the top Greek companies, is starting to accept the competition from Pitsos, especially after the acquisition of the latter by the Germans. Izola’s administration is attacking by modernizing its factory in Thebes, a move that has not yielded the expected results. In 1977 Izola joins forces with the other Greek company for the production of electrical appliances, Eskimo, and creates the company Elinda, in which the National Bank also participates. In fact, this is the beginning of the end for both companies: in 1984, Elinda joined the famous Business Reconstruction Organization for the so-called troubled companies.
In 2015, the distribution of electric kitchens with the Izola brand started again by the company “G. E. Dimitriou “, but the devices are manufactured in Poland.
CHRIS.P-LifeAfterGravity
.
