Company
Our history
Our origins
Olimpia Splendid was started in 1956, when Evilio Marchesi established Olimpia: drawing on the expertise acquired in years of working as a tinsmith, he created a company specialized in the manufacturing of sheet metal articles.
1950
The initial core of what would become the Olimpia Splendid of today – a fully Italian-owned company that has made its name worldwide with absolutely innovative products, was established in 1956 in Gualtieri, in the province of Reggio Emilia.
It was founded as a small artisan business but in the 60s it had already taken on full industrial proportions, becoming world leader in the production of cookers and heating units. In the 80s it entered the air conditioning sector and immediately stood out for its technologically advanced solutions.
The Sixties
The Sixties saw the small artisan company develop into an industrial-scale manufacturer. Thanks to an ever increasing technological foothold and a solid bent toward innovation, the company soon established itself as a leading manufacturer of wood, gas and paraffin heating units.
The Seventies
The Seventies saw a decisive thrust in the company’s growth: the oil crisis and the resulting general climate of austerity led to a dramatic increase in the demand for wood burners and for gas and paraffin range cookers. This set the groundwork for Olimpia’s leap forward in sales from 2,500 units in 1975 to more than 40,000 in 1980.
The Eighties
The Eighties, as the crisis came to an end, the market for wood-burning stoves witnessed a downright collapse, also aggravated by the downward economic trend.
Nevertheless, Olimpia Splendid was able to continue on its growth path, also thanks to the arrival of Fernando Marchesi and, above all, a solid, deep-rooted, profound focus on innovation, applied both to product development and communication.
The Nineties
The Nineties was the period of greatest development:
thanks to the quality and design of the product and improvements in the marketing process, Olimpia Splendid became the second largest seller of portable air conditioners in Italy and one of the top three companies in Europe.
In 1990, Olimpia Splendid launched Grillo and Windy, two products with an innovative double-duct system that revolutionized the air conditioning market: finally a portable air conditioner that could really cool a room without the use of water.
In 1995, the Olimpia Splendid Group was set up with a new corporate organization to better coordinate production and more effectively respond to market demand.
In 1997, Climapiù was launched, the first wall split unit by Olimpia Splendid:
for the first time an air conditioner was seen as a genuine interior decorating item thanks to its elegant, innovative design. .
Today
The year 2000 marked the turning point:
this was the year Olimpia Splendid presented Unico, the first air conditioner without an outdoor unit, that has become the company’s flagship product.
The success of Unico was immediate and has grown steadily each year.
With the increase in the number of fixed air conditioners being installed, building façades were being covered with large unsightly packs that detracted from the overall appearance of the buildings. Unico became the only true alternative to safeguard the beauty of our cities.
The year 2004 saw the birth of Issimo, presented as the “first truly portable air conditioner” thanks to the extraordinary concept of design,
size and manageability combined.
Once again product innovation proved the company’s ability to present cutting-edge solutions that are also “user friendly”. This is why Olimpia Splendid has invested systematically in R&D and has established stable collaborative relationships with major design studios (King & Miranda and Dario Tanfoglio).
In the belief that the future will lean increasingly toward complete systems able to provide comfort in all environments and in all seasons, in 2005 Olimpia Splendid took to Hydronics (water based systems), adding such units to its direct expansion production.
For the production of the new hydronic systems, an entire plant was built at Pieve di Bono (Innova) and this is where the Bi2 was created, the system terminal that cools by ventilation as a normal convection fan and also provides radiant heat like a radiator.
Unico, Issimo, Bi2 are only a few examples of how this medium-sized Italian company has succeeded in competing with the large multinationals that dominate the market. Its strength lies in its offering of highly characterized products that meet the end customer’s real, but often latent, needs.
