Raja (company)
| Raja Group | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1954 |
| Seat | Paris |
| Number of employees | 1,400 in Europe (960 in France) (2014) |
| sales | 421 million euros (2009) |
| Branch | Packaging means |
| Website | www.raja.fr |
The Raja Group is a packaging wholesaler based in Roissy near Paris (France). Packaging from all product areas is offered under the umbrella brand Raja: cardboard boxes, postal packaging, envelopes, adhesive tapes, foils and packaging machines. Distribution takes place via catalog mail order, field service, telephony and the Internet.
history
In 1954 Rachel Marcovici founded the company Raja Kartons, together with Janine Rocher, for the sale of cheap used cardboard boxes. Marcovicil won new customers and suppliers, Rocher processed the orders and a warehouse manager took care of shipping. New cardboard boxes, wrapping paper and corrugated cardboard later supplemented the used cardboard boxes . At the end of the 1950s the company had 10 employees and sales climbed to one million francs (over € 150,000).
In 1962 Danièle Kapel-Marcovici, Rachel's daughter, joined the company. In the 1970s, the plastic materials were discovered. Rachel Markovici recognized the importance of this development and offered her customers a corresponding packaging program with adhesive tapes, bubble wrap, filling materials and much more. The first catalog had 24 pages in black and white. A print run of 10,000 pieces supported the sales force.
In 1982 Danièle Kapel-Marcovici officially took over the management of the company. The catalog mail order business became the focus of sales and, together with the expansion of the range, the growth driver of the Raja company. As part of internationalization, Raja became Kartons - Raja in 1990. With the acquisition of Belgian BINPAC in 1994, international expansion into European markets made rapid progress. In 1999, the German branch, Rajapack GmbH, was founded in Birkenfeld near Pforzheim.
In 2008 Raja is based in the most important European countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, Switzerland). The multi-channel strategy is based on a catalog, field service, customer service center and an internet platform with shop systems. The range of food packaging was expanded by the Raja Food brand. In 2007 L'Equipier, a shipping specialist for hygiene and cleaning products, was taken over. In 2008, Welcome Office, a discounter for office supplies on the Internet, joined the Raja Group. In 2015, the takeover of Morplan, a British mail order company for shop equipment and goods presentation for the retail trade, took place. The independent French RAJA group is present in 15 European countries with 18 branches. With a turnover of 438 million euros in 2014, the group employs 1,600 people in Europe (960 of them in France) and positions itself as the European market leader in B2B mail order for packaging materials.