History

Hartman garden furniture
The specialist in resin.
Do you remember them? The robust white resin folding chairs that did not break. Hartman has been the specialist in resin for over 50 years. By using the latest resin injection moulding and innovative techniques, Hartman turned the garden furniture market upside down in the 1980s. The durable resin garden chairs became a worldwide success. The slogan: "You can get more summers out of a Hartman" was a popular slogan to underline Hartman's quality.

Craftsmanship continues, many resin garden chairs continue to be produced at the Hartman factory in Losser. In addition to resin, Hartman has responded to the latest garden trends over the years and now has an extended range of garden furniture, garden cushions and accessories. Every product produced by Hartman is designed in the Netherlands and tested extensively in the Hartman test centre to meet Hartman DNA requirements: comfort, quality and design.

OUR HISTORY

1968

Establishment Bemico

Outdoor living continued to grow in popularity . Frans Hartman responded to this trend and, together with his wife, was one of the first to start producing steel leisure furniture. The company Bemico was founded and named after their children Bertrand and Miranda.

1982

Start-up of mass production of resin garden furniture

Enjoying continued growth of steel leisure furniture, the Hartman family looked to diversify and began to develop a resin collection using the very latest resin spraying techniques. The brand grew strongly and in the early 80's produced large numbers of the popular durable resin garden furniture.

1983

Bemico introduces brand Hartman

The company Bemico introduces the brand Hartman. From 1983 the resin collection has been marketed under the name Hartman.

TV weatherman Erwin Kroll introduces his "it's Hartman-weather again"

Hartman became one of the leading manufacturers of garden furniture, both nationally and internationally. The brand awareness continued to grow, even the national TV weatherman Erwin Kroll used the analogy "it's Hartman again" to describe a beautiful summer day. Click here to see how Hartman responded to this with a playful commercial on TV.

1992

1997

Introduction of the first teak garden furniture

At the end of the 1990s, a period of renewal began. Teak became an outright trend that stormed the market. Hartman responded to this trend and teak garden furniture was added to the collection. Not much later, aluminium and wicker were also introduced. The popularity of resin declined.

1999

Introduction Da Vinci aluminium stand chair

The designers at Hartman created a true masterpiece by designing the adjustable Da Vinci chair. No other (outdoor) furniture has such a successful and long production life as this model. And even today, the Da Vinci series is one of the most successful types of furniture from the Hartman collection.

2005

Changed consumer demands

Outdoor living fashions and consumer demand for alternative garden furniture continued to develop and move away from resin products. Hartman was unable to anticipate this in time, it’s production facilities in Enschede was completely geared to resin, which led to unavoidable bankruptcy. Hartman continued as a new company.

2012

Back to our roots with Hartman Resin

Back to the drawing board. Hartman developed a collection of resin, woven resin wicker, teak and aluminium. This makes a diverse selection of garden furniture styles to suit all trends. The garden furniture manufacturer built upon its strong brand and innovative character that generated a lot of confidence with consumers.

2014

National campaign on TV and radio: Awareness rises to 80%

The garden furniture market has changed. More suppliers have entered the market offering similar-looking products with a vast price range. Hartman has the reputation as a high-quality supplier of affordable outdoor furniture and does its best to communicate this via the familiar mass media. Thanks to the sophisticated use of these communication channels, the recognition of the Hartman brand name has increased to a level of more than 80%. With that, Hartman is the most well-known in the outdoor furniture industry.

Producing in the Netherlands with the innovative resin bucket seat Sophie

Resin production in the Netherlands is back! After two years of development Hartman introduces the bucket seat Sophie to the market. A nice-looking resin bucket seat that, unlike other buckets, had comfort at its heart. By using a unique production process to produce an ergonomic chair that is comfortable for everyone, Sophie quickly became an icon. The special comfort in combination with the design gives the Hartman brand a trendy and hip character again.

2016

2019

Opening of own resin factory in Losser, reconquering position as producer

The resin bucket seat Sophie became available in many colours and models, a significant addition to the resin collection. Due to a large European client and the popularity of the resin chair, Hartman continues to grow and increase production of resin garden chairs: a factory is opened in Losser to respond and accommodate the increased demand.

2020

National campaign ''It's Hartman again'' comes back

In the year 2020 Hartman has revamped the old commercials from 1989. Hartman's core values have not changed over the years. That is why Hartman was able to 'recycle' the old commercials. Meet Mrs. Hartman!