With the upcoming closure of the emblematic Pitsos factory in the area of Agios Ioannis Redand the decision of the parent company Bosch Siemens Hausegerate (BSH) to transfer production from our country to neighboring Turkey, finally closes a huge cycle of history for the well-known Electrical devices which for decades entered every Greek house, from Evros to Crete and from the islands of the archipelago to the last mountain village. It is undoubtedly one of the oldest and most well-known companies that was born, developed and operated in Greece, providing countless products to generations and generations.
To understand how long the history of "Pizza" is, it is enough to consider that it was created just… 22 years after the death of Theodoros Kolokotronis. The Elder of Moria passed away in 1843 and the company was established in 1865.
The eponymous Pitsos family started their business activity with a shop for the manufacture of small household appliances and oil heaters, on Perikleous Street, a few hundred meters below the current metropolitan church of Athens. The locals went there and bought, among other things, water coolers with taps that hung on the wall, heaters of the time and later gas stoves which the family exported to various countries of the old continent.
Entering the following years dynamics in the market of the so-called white household appliances, will face competition, first from Izola and then from Eskimo. During the interwar period, Pitsos will move to larger offices, on Eslin Street, in Ampelokipi, an area in which the Greek capital was then marginally extended. From there on it was a countryside. In Kifissia you only went for an excursion, as you now go to Nafplio for a weekend.
After the end of World War II and the end of the Civil War (1946 - 1949) in our country is recorded an impressive rate of economic and social development that will last until the mid-1970s. Every year the growth rate was of the order of 7%. Only Japan ran faster than the rest of the world. Taking advantage of the Greek economic miracle of the time, the Pitsou family built in 1959 in the area of Agios Ioannis Rentis a large factory.
The new production line will create the first electric refrigerator in Greece and freezers and kitchens will follow. A little later the products will multiply with the company now selling even black and white TVs which of course were still considered for most luxury as they were still very expensive.
Think that when man first landed on the moon, early Sunday morning to Monday, July 21, 1969, at 04:56 in the morning Greek time, thousands of people in our country had sat awake in front of just 200.000 receivers to see the world historical event.
In fact, because of the small number of televisions, many had gathered early in the evening at the homes of relatives, friends and neighbors in order to watch in ecstasy the half-shaken black and white that showed the American astronaut Neil Armstrong how to step on the lunar eclipse. see the moonlight so late, the answer is that the dictatorial regime of George Papadopoulos had declared the next day as a public service holiday). Pizza is expanding in the market to the point of creating its metal construction department even a three-wheeled truck.
In the first years of the change of government, the factory owners will be confronted with their staff. On Wednesday, December 10, 1975, about 1.500 workers began mobilizing for seven hours. They demand increases in their salaries of 35% and an adjustment (to the most favorable of course) of the production allowance. The days go by but no solution is found. The company in the face of the deadlock of the negotiations declares a lock out on the 16th of the month, ie a temporary closure of the company in response to the strike.
Employees will once again wear uniforms and return to work on January 26, 1976, having achieved a 20% increase in their daily wage, a 20% increase in the production bonus and its assimilation between men and women, and the re-employment of those who have been laid off. in the meantime with the promise that they will not be removed again. The solution may have been found but the wounds caused by the conflict with the employer had not healed.
In the same year, 58-year-old Apostolos Pitsos, the man who transformed the company, decided to sell the majority stake in the company to the German representatives of the multinational company Siemens, which at the time was spreading to dozens of countries around the world. The head of the company, Apostolos Pitsos, was well acquainted with German culture and the way its market was moving.
When he was young he studied at the German School of Athens, having as a classmate in the school period 1926 - 1927 the later Prime Minister George Ralli (he presided over the government in 1980-1981) and the great actress Despo Diamantidou. In addition, he studied mechanical engineering in the small German town of Aue, so he knew the language well.
An accident that affected his father's eyesight will make him deal with the corporation from an early age. When he decided it was time to transfer most of the company, he knew that it would have to be given to a colossus in order for it to continue to operate smoothly. Thus, in 1977, the agreement with Bosch - Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH was concluded, which acquired the not insignificant percentage of 60%. The Germans choose not to change the name "Pitsos SA" for marketing reasons and the production continued normally in the central production unit of Renti, at 8 Parnassou Street. A new era for Pizza has just begun.
Sales go from good to better. People are obsessed with consumer mania and still have money, spend generously, equipping the house. The classic example is that whoever got married received TVs, videos, ovens, refrigerators and many, many mixers as a gift from relatives and friends.
In 1986 the group will start its cooperation with Robert Bosch for the distribution of its home appliances in Greece and in 1989 it will start producing the new no frost refrigerators. This is a small revolution in the field of electrical appliances, as these refrigerators do not catch ice, do not require defrosting and have the ability to reduce the accumulation of mold or bad smell inside with the help of a simple motor with an evaporator and a ventilator. to manage the air, to avoid the formation of ice and to "breathe" the food.
Four years later, the concentration of BHS service activities in Greece will be completed and the production of modern refrigerator-freezers and other models of high-tech refrigerators will begin - after all, we are in the era when "there is still money". The name "Pitsos", which until recently was a fairly strong brand in the market, will be renamed in 1996 to BSP SA, from the initials of Bosch, Siemens and Pitsos products), while in 2001 the label will be changed to "BSH Home Appliances". In 2005 the domestic production unit sold 400.000 products per year, of which 30% were destined for export - mainly to Europe and the Middle East. The annual revenue is around 308 million euros.
The financial crisis of 2010 and the memoranda that followed will obviously damage the reputation of the once powerful company. The gradual reduction of expenses, the reduction of even necessary expenses and the difficulty in paying the salaries of hundreds of employees will begin. In 2017 will be the fourth voluntary departure of employees, which will be formalized with two announcements of the company in March and July.
Two years ago, the German-owned company Bosch Siemens Hausegerate (BSH) decided to put a lock on the Renti plant (although its turnover according to the financial statements amounted to 152,8 million euros). But then there were strong reactions not only from the workers but also from the political parties with the result that temporarily there was no cancellation but postponement of the plans. However, their implementation started again a few twenty-four hours ago and it is now clear that there is no going back.
The snapshots from Pitsos ads that come from the company's website, pitsos.gr