130 YEARS OF CRAFTSMANSHIP
Switzerland’s first motorway, on which works would commence in 1959. Elite’s present-day location is the result of some changes in land use. “En Roveray is part of the municipality of Aubonne. Back then, apart from a tram line running from Allaman station to Aubonne and Gimel there were only a few sheep there,” recalls Edith Caillet. With the active participation of Maurice Caillet, the young and talented architect Gilles Barbey built a factory, a body shop and houses under a contract with the R. Caillet firm. 1964 saw the Expo 64 world’s fair in Switzerland as well as the opening of the A1 motorway – and was also the year Edith Caillet met her husband Horst Wagner, ten years her elder. A German, he was a company boss himself. Edith was Vaud born and bred and couldn’t imagine leaving everything to follow her husband, instead continuing to live and work with her mother. “My husband and I had separate homes for thirty years. I would work all week long and then take a flight to Germany every Friday evening.” At the end of the 1970s, Edith Caillet took over at the helm of the company, which employed some forty people at the time. Yvonne remained involved in the business for many years, even after reaching retirement age. The furniture business was changing, and the arrival of a large Swedish firm in 1973 marked the start of a difficult period for furniture makers. The market became polarised: at one extreme were industrial manufacturers selling slatted bed bases and foam mattresses; at the other were the artisanal manufacturers like R. Caillet SA producing top-of-the- range beds and mattresses for a niche segment. When she turned 67, Edith Caillet started looking for a buyer to whom she could pass on the family firm and heritage, but it proved to be a difficult task. Eventually she met François Pugliese (who was in his forties at the time) through the offices of Raymond Ducrey, the senior partner in her asset management firm. With a background in the automotive industry, Pugliese was looking for a new challenge. Edith immediately discerned his
a ‘boxspring’ in French, brought a new lease of life. François Pugliese adopted a new sales strategy too, opening Elite stores. The market had changed: upholsterers and decorators were gradually losing ground and disappearing. Pugliese opened the first Elite Boutique in Aubonne in 2009 on the site of the former body shop. “It was the only way forward,” concurs Edith Caillet.
Between them, the Caillets had got it just right: Yvonne had realised the importance of the mattress side of the business; Edith had found the right buyer. Today, Marie Pugliese represents the next generation of women in the firm. Before even turning 30, François Pugliese’s daughter is already finding her feet in the company, and just as naturally. We spoke to her, too.
In 2006, Edith Caillet and her brother Maurice sold the family firm to François Pugliese.
entrepreneurial spirit, ideas and exceptional capacity for hard work; the deal was sealed in 2006. Very quickly, the current boss of the firm (renamed Elite SA) understood the importance of continuing to capitalise on the hand-made, artisanal ethos to satisfy a loyal customer base expecting the highest standards. François Pugliese preserved its historic expertise whilst also innovating. The return of the iconic upholstered bed base, rebranded as
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