Socomal

Socomal SAS
11, rue de l'artisanat
F-67116 Reichstett (z.i.)

Socomal (Societé Commerciale de Demi-Produits en Alliages Legers) was established on 1 July 1960 by Heinrich Spahn in the French Alsace region.

Mr Spahn had already been working in the area in the years before that. Back then, the Saar (now Saarland) was a protectorate under French control following the end of the war. By 1957 it had returned to German territory following a public referendum. No one wanted to endanger the strong economic ties that had developed between the French and Germans, so German citizens were allowed to establish companies in France for the first time since the war. Mr Spahn seized this opportunity to set up a stronghold on the western side of the Rhine during the Cold War, just in case Russia should ever decide to invade Germany.

While the original plan of the company was to procure semi-finished goods in France and sell them to Germany, this situation quickly reversed in the subsequent years. After that, the Hartmann brand window, door and façade systems were exclusively sold in France via Socomal. The company slowly grew and relocated in the early eighties from Lingolsheim to Reichstett, about 25 km north of Strasbourg.

In 2001 Hartmann's systems business in Germany was purchased by the producer Hueck, based in Lüdenscheid. Socomal thereafter represented them in the French and Portuguese markets. An agreement was also made with the Austrian company VoestAlpine for the exclusive sale of its steel window and door systems, a nice enhancement of the core business.

Over the following years, successive construction projects let to the Reichstett site's gradual expansion. Today the company holds approx. 7,000 m² of hall space and 800 m² of office space at the location. The company is run by about 30 employees.

© 2013: HEINRICH SPAHN GmbH & Co. KG