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The road from Sevylor’s founding in 1948 as the dominant supplier of a wide range of PVC inflatables from river running kayaks to brightly colored beach balls is still going strong today, with unique designs, original inventions and imagination.
In 1948 in a city suburb of Vitry, France, an electronics engineer Berco Grimbert established a company called “Societe Electronique de Vitry” or “Sevy” for short. The firm built electrical accessories, and as a sideline, set up a unit to use its high-frequency welding machines to manufacture PVC consumer goods.
The first inflatable to receive rave notice was a small bathtub called the “Dou Dou.” Perfect for postwar France, the inflatable tub was portable, convenient, practical, easy to clean, durable, and most of all, more affordable than it’s wood or metal counterparts.
Sevy quickly outgrew it’s facilities in Vitry so the factory was moved to the picturesque Alsatian village of Buhl. After establishing it’s new headquarters, and convinced of it’s golden potential, the company added the letters “l’or” (French for gold) to it’s name. The company expanded into developing valves, pumps, boats, infl atable pools and a variety of water toys.
Kayak Corp. of America signed an exclusive U.S. distribution agreement with the company in 1959 selling directly to the public at sport shows and other events. From there Sevylor developed the fi rst camping mattress that was sold by Neiman Marcus for 15 years before anyone else, even Sevylor, began selling these popular velour air beds.
As potential grew for PVC products, Sevylor developed a PVC that had “memory”. The ability of PVC to return to its original shape regardless of temperature.
It wasn’t until 1962 that Sevylor made inflatable history in the United States when it launched an inflatable pool mattress with a headrest and circular pockets. This design provided cushioning comfort while keeping the user cool. And when the pockets filled with water, it provided ballast to keep the mattress from wobbling. Soon after Sevylor moved into other areas of development including the Tahiti™ kayak and others.
In 1972, Sevylor France bought out Kayak Corp., and a new company called Sevylor U.S.A. Inc., was created with Conny Klimenko at it’s helm. This began a development of products strictly for the U.S. market.
The Zodiac Group, a world leader in heavy-duty inflatables for military and expedition use, took over Sevylor France and all of it’s subsidiaries in 1981. Sevylor was re-organized into two separate divisions: Sevylor International (above ground pools) and Sevylor® (leisure inflatables).
This move gave Sevylor and Klimenko more freedom and opportunity to develop new products and new markets. The invention of the Ski Bob™ in 1986 was a real turning point which lead the way in creating the entire towables business. In the fall of 2006, Sevylor was purchased by Stearns Inc., a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation, and known for its marine and outdoor products headquartered in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Today, Sevylor’s innovative designs now range from inflatable boats to whimsical floats and currently markets different items including tenders, hunting and fishing boats, specialty boats and kayaks, towables, snow tubes, air beds, pool floats and toys, river tubes, swim and sport rings, and other accessories. All of Sevylor’s high-quality products feature construction and materials engineered for safety and long life.
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