Our story

HISTORY IN A FEW DATES...

1885

On October 17, Etienne MIMARD (23 years old) and Pierre BLACHON (29 years old) bought the “MANUFACTURE FRANCAISE D'ARMES ET DE TIR” from Messrs. MARTINIER-COLLIN for 50,000 F “gold”

They named their company “MANUFACTURE FRANCAISE D'ARMES DE ST ETIENNE”.

The French Hunter appears for the first time (No. 1 is dated June 15, 1885 and contains 4 pages).

 

From 1886 to 1890

  • The cycles first appeared in the small catalog, then published in 20,000 copies. This latter was then published in 300,000 copies in 1890 and sent free of charge to all hunters in France.
  • Invention of the IDEAL shotgun, a high-end side-by-side shotgun, one of the first shotguns without an apparent hammer.

 

From 1890 to 1900

  • Opening of the first store in PARIS, at 42 Rue du Louvre
  • The FRENCH WEAPONS MANUFACTURE OF ST ETIENNE launches its HIRONDELLE bicycle brand. It thus becomes the "FRENCH WEAPONS AND CYCLE MANUFACTURE OF ST ETIENNE."
  • Construction of the Cours Fauriel factory in ST ETIENNE begins.
  • Introduction of fishing articles into the catalog, which is then called “Target-Album”.
  • Creation of the BUFFALO single-shot rifle, garden and shooting rifle (9 mm, 12 mm and 22LR calibers).
  • 80 branches are already open in the French colonies

From 1900 to 1939

  • From 1900, the HIRONDELLE cycle range was expanded.
  • A power plant specific to the factory is built.
  • The MANUFACTURE offers its customers its first ready-to-use cartridges.
  • Creation of the OMNIA sewing machine.
  • Creation of the SIMPLEX single-shot shotgun.
  • In 1911, the MANUFACTURE FRANCAISE D'ARMES ET CYCLES DE ST ETIENNE became "MANUFRANCE". It was transformed into a public limited company, with Etienne MIMARD as its first Chairman and CEO.
  • Creation of the ROBUST shotgun, a side-by-side shotgun, the benchmark in this type of shotgun for its triple locking system.
  • Creation of a grand touring model bicycle, 6 speeds, direct retro and freewheel, sold for 200 Francs.
  • In 1914, Pierre BLACHON died and bequeathed the majority of his shares to the Hospices Civils de St Etienne.
  • Creation of the LE FRANÇAIS pistol.
  • Development of the removable tire.

From 1939 to 1945

  • At the end of this period, MANUFRANCE had already opened around fifteen stores in the largest cities in France, including Nantes, Rouen, Lille, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Toulouse, Avignon, Nancy, Troyes, Valence, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, etc.
  • In 1939, the Chasseur Français was printed in 475,000 copies.
  • In 1944, Etienne MIMARD died and bequeathed his shares to the city of St Etienne. Pierre DREVET became Chairman and CEO.

 

From 1945 to 1970

  • MANUFRANCE opens its first authorized agencies. This is a first step toward building a relationship with independent retailers.
  • Jean FONTVIEILLE succeeds Pierre DREVET at the head of MANUFRANCE.
  • In 1954, creation of the REINA rifle, an automatic repeating rifle in 22LR caliber, 8 shots.
  • In 1958, creation of the RAPID rifle, a semi-automatic pump-action shotgun.
  • In 1962, creation of the PERFEX rifle, a 3-shot automatic hunting rifle.
  • In 1969, creation of the FALCOR rifle, an over-and-under hunting and trap rifle.

From 1970 to 1975

  • MANUFRANCE manufactures 65% of French hunting weapons production, with more than 80,000 rifles produced per year.

The company has 125,000 m2 of factories in St Etienne and more than 4,000 employees.

It ships 20,000 tonnes of goods each year in France and around the world.

64 stores and agencies are located throughout France.

1,500,000 households receive the catalog.

30,000 references are then present in the catalog.

MANUFRANCE manufactures some 30,000 OMNIA sewing machines per year.

  • From 1975 onwards, significant difficulties arose. In addition to the negative effects of the first global oil crisis on consumption, production facilities had not kept pace with changes.

The transfer of mail order to the new premises in the Molina district of St Etienne is causing commercial problems.

From 1979 to 1988

  • In 1979, MANUFRANCE was placed in receivership. It authorized a management lease to the SociĂ©tĂ© Nouvelle MANUFRANCE under the direction of Mr. MESTRIES, but this company was unable to honor customer orders due to a lack of working capital not granted by the banks.
  • In 1980, SociĂ©tĂ© Nouvelle MANUFRANCE went into liquidation. SA MANUFRANCE canceled its lease-management contract. That same year, Mr. Bernard TAPIE put forward proposals to revive the company. He was unsuccessful.
  • A group of union members then set up a Production and Distribution Workers' Cooperative Society (SCOPD). This benefited from a lease-management agreement and relaunched manufacturing (HIRONDELLE, OMNIA, ROBUST, SIMPLEX, FALCOR CHASSE, FALCOR TIR, RAPID, IDEAL, PERFEX, REINA, MERCURE). This new attempt would not work in an already weakened company. In 1985, the SCOPD was put into liquidation. Several sales were then decided upon; on February 19, 1986, the equipment, furniture, and buildings were sold.
  • On June 20, 1988, the trademarks, patents, and designs were put up for auction. A businessman from the Loire region purchased everything, including the MANUFRANCE and MF brands.

From 1988 to 2010

  • The company reorganized, relaunching production of the ROBUST and SIMPLEX hunting weapons, and a bicycle line under the MANUFRANCE name. Its new products were then distributed by major retailers (CARREFOUR, CASINO, AUCHAN, etc.). However, the company faced increased competition from foreign countries in the hunting weapons sector and changes in consumer habits for bicycles.

From 2010 to 2016

  • MANUFRANCE, which relaunched mail-order sales with a new catalog, is modernizing and launching online sales. It now offers approximately 10,000 products for hunting, fishing, cutlery, and other outdoor leisure activities.

  • In 2016, Jacques TAVITIAN died. His daughter Carole succeeded him.

Since 2016

  • The company has its own design office. It designs, among other things, items under its MANUFRANCE brand in partnership with French manufacturers (many of whom were already MANUFRANCE suppliers in the past) and thus actively participates in the promotion of French know-how, recognized in foreign countries.

MANUFRANCE sells its home, outdoor, textile, and cutlery items on its website www.manufrance.fr . It also offers a range of "Vintage" items, recalling, among other things, the partnership with the St Etienne Sports Association when it won the French Football Cup. It is also developing sales of its products in retail chains and to large companies for specific requests, their works councils, etc.