Martin Sellier moves to Valenciennes

With sales of over € 15 mio and a workforce of approximately 80 people, Martin Sellier can look back on a long and varied history. It all began back in 1927 with the establishment by Charles Martin of a wholesale company specialising in hardware, although some accessory products for dogs featured in the range even in the early days. These were no more than an adjunct to the product range, but things changed quickly in the 1960s. In the 1990s, the company experienced an upsurge as a leading French manufacturer of pet products. During this period the company also took the important decision to start importing products from Taiwan and China, due to the growing competition in the pet accessory market. Martin Sellier has continued to expand its international business and in 1999 it established a subsidiary in Barcelona, Spain. In 2006, Martin Sellier was acquired by Ludovic Deswarte. He is still the managing director of the dynamic accessories company, which is based in Maubeuge, close to the French-Belgian border. In the same year, the company opened an office in Shanghai to gain better control over the flow of goods from China to France. A year later, Martin Sellier secured the services of an agent in Japan to initiate the company’s market launch there. The French company has enjoyed great success in Japan with its luxury accessories in particular. Martin Sellier opened an office in Hong Kong in 2008. It also invested in a Warehouse Management System (WMS) and improved its service rate. Within the same year, the company revived some of its French manufacturing operations and launched its new website. The WMS was implemented last year. The company also boosted its sales team, which now comprises 20 staff, 17 covering France and three handling Spain. Product range at a glance Martin Sellier offers a large accessory range boasting over 4 000 products. They are marketed under various brands:
“Martin Sellier”, the main brand, covers the major part of the range;
Luxury products distributed exclusively in Japan are offered under the “Carlain” brand;
“Image” covers up-to-the-minute fun products;
“Arka Haok” is the brand for sports articles.
In addition to its own brands, Martin Sellier also distributes products supplied by Flexi, Beaphar, Radio Systems and Pet Mate in France in its capacity as a wholesaler. It delivers directly to other wholesalers and the central organisations of large pet product retailers. The company has a 10 000 m2 site in Maubeuge, but space is…