Made in Ticino: Valera equips 200,000 hotel rooms with hairdryers every year

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The red-grey-white hall is located right next to the train tracks in the industrial zone of the inconspicuous village of Ligornetto, which is part of the municipality of Mendrisio TI. But there’s something a little ostentatious about the assembly line inside. Here Ligo Electric SA produces hair dryers for world-famous hotel chains around the world: Sheraton, Hilton, Ibis. Every year, approximately 200,000 hotel rooms are equipped with Valera brand Ticino hair dryers, which the company calls “Tagesanzeiger”.

This makes the Ticino-based SME one of the world’s largest suppliers of hair dryers for hotels, with 75 employees. According to the company, the slightly higher price of between 40 and 200 francs depending on the model compared to many competitors is offset by the quality. Hotels will value the products for their reliability and low maintenance costs.

Almost everything is handmade

A Swiss cross adorns Valera’s foehn hills: Founded in Italy in 1955, the company moved to Ticino in 1978 to find a suitable location for a larger factory. Since then, all hair dryers have been produced in Switzerland. The product range is extensive: including particularly durable hair dryers for swimming pools, fitness changing rooms, hotel rooms or automatic wall-mounted hand dryers.

Valera’s devices are largely made by hand. Employees assemble products with trained hands. The work is done almost exclusively by women. “We employ almost no men in production,” marketing manager Pascal Aenishänslin tells “Tagesanzeiger”.

Low wages and proximity to the border

Location may also play a role. The Italian border is just nearby and therefore labor is cheap. As famous as Valera’s hair dryers are, the salaries in Ligo Electric SA’s production hall are just as low.

Ticino’s hair dryers are currently sold in 82 countries worldwide. The manufacturer now wants to launch Valera in the USA. However, for the US market, new devices with adapted motors or heating elements need to be produced since the voltage is 125 volts. (smt)

Source :Blick