Hafele - Furniture Fittings - Architectural Hardware - Electronic Locking Systems - Technical Hardware.

The Hafele headquarters in the town of Nagold in Germany.

Hafele, a German company, was established in 1923. It is now a truly global concern with offices and distribution centres in more than one hundred and fifty countries worldwide.

For anyone who has an eye for statistics cast your eye over these from the 2008 financial year. A turnover of more than 815 million Euros (more than 1219 million US Dollars) with 33 sales companies in 5 continents. 4,435 dedicated employees.

I am not sure sure of the exact period when I first started using their products. I don't think it was in the late 1970's when along with two partners I had a joinery and cabinetmaking business. In those days the hardware available to us was fairly basic, probably imported from the UK. It did not seem at that time that any Australian hardware distributors were keeping up with the trends in Europe.

I know that Hafele set up distribution centres in Australia in 1982 and I guess it must have been a couple of years after that when our local saw doctor "Territory Saws" became agents for Hafele and changed their name to "Territory Saws and Hardware".

Now wasn't that an eye opener! Every time we took a few tungsten tipped blades in for sharpening we were subjected to displays of hinges, drawer tracks and other cabinet hardware that we never knew existed prior to then. Modern quality and design had finally found us, even in our small backwater.

I had dropped out of the cabinetmaking partnership by then and along with my wife Hilary had formed our own construction company building mainly one off houses and small commercial jobs.

We never were, or wanted to be, a large concern and so as a result the amount of hardware that we bought every year was small.
All the time I was in the contracting game I preferred to stay with the same set of "tried and trusted" sub-contractors and suppliers wherever possible. We built up our business through word of mouth referrals from architects and clients.

I like to think that over time I learnt to recognise quality and value for money when I saw it and so I have no hesitation in recommending Hafele products, after using many of them for something like twenty years.

Hafele Mobile Design Centre

All images on this page provided by Hafele Australia Pty. Ltd.

• Hafele: TOP