WHO ARE WE ?

Welcome to the AYRENS’ world of umbrellas and sunshades

Nearly 150 years of French fabrication of umbrellas and sunshades, in the service of quality, tradition and innovation.

Allow us to thank you for the interest you have shown by visiting this web site.

 

The Company

French Manufacturer of top-range rain and sun umbrellas for nearly 150 years, we permanently dedicate our know-how to the service of the satisfaction of your needs.

Instigator of product lines for the high-fashion industry in the early 60’s, our in-house style studio dedicates all its energy to the conception and to the realisation of collections, in harmony with fashion.

Our creations are produced in France, by a team of workers who have solid expertise, gained from long experience of the business.

Our workshops are situated at Saint-Pardoux La Rivière, in France, 20 km North of Brantôme, in the Dordogne.

Fed by a deep culture of tradition, authenticity, innovation and perfection, our privileged situation in the Regional Nature Park of the Périgord-Limousin contributes to the creative inspiration of our House.

A list detailing where you can find our products is accessible in the "Seller area" of this site.

We wish you a pleasant visit and hope that you will enjoy looking at the circa 175 models of umbrellas and sunshades in our collections.

History

1868 : Mr Paillargue, an itinerant tinsmith moves from the Auvergne to the Périgord, in Dordogne. Apart from their main activities, tinsmiths also made and repaired umbrellas.

1905 : Mr Paillargue invites its nephew, Léon MEYLEU and his wife, to join him in the Dordogne. They perpetuate the traditional occupation (tinplating and fabrication / repairing umbrellas). At the same time, they create a General Store at Nontron.

1927 : Their son, Ciris MEYLEU, develops the business which evolves then from a craftsman workshop to a very small industrial concern specialising in the production of umbrellas.

1962 : Christian MEYLEU, son of Ciris MEYLEU takes-over and continues in the ways of his father. To face the emergence of the growing number of imports from China (still under import quotas), he decides to specialise even more so and creates the concept of "Haute Couture" collections in the industry. A dedicated design studio for the business is created by his spouse Marie-José MEYLEU.

1968 : Christian MEYLEU structures a sales team to service the national market.

1972 : To cope with the growth of the business as a result of this development, the firm moves from Nontron to Saint-Pardoux-La-Rivière to the current location of the workshops. Christian and his wife Marie-José decide at the same time to create original and exclusive patterns of textile linings. This difference with the current competition allows AYRENS today to select from a range of 150 patterns, which they decide to register in order to protect the designs from counterfeiters.

1985 : The quality and the originality of the patterns are acknowledged by European manufacturers (German, Swiss, Belgian, Spanish). AYRENS becomes from then their subcontractor for the manufacture of high quality range of products.

1990 : The levy of quotas previously imposed on China and the opening of economic frontiers creates a massive influx of Chinese imports, of shabby quality but also very cheap. The temptations of globalisation then devastates the business sector (there used to be circa 100 manufacturers in France 10 of whom were in the south-west). Today there are only 10 makers left, of those only 6 (including AYRENS) have a significant production. Only AYRENS remains in the south-west. In 2005 nearly 95% of umbrellas sold in France are made in China. The market share of french manufacturers of beautiful umbrellas has shrunk like Balzac’s shagreen and only represents 5%.

August 2005 : Christian MEYLEU retired since 2004 sells the business to Rodolphe THIAM, the current manager. The latter dedicates himself to enlarging the business towards its 150th anniversary.

To this effect, the two former managers will spend several years assisting Rodolphe THIAM to realise this objective for the continuation of AYRENS.