Our Story
Charlois was built around the forest and oak. Understanding who we are means looking back at our history, our values, and the way we organize our development today.
Our Story
At the Roots of Our Forestry Craft
The history of Charlois began in the 17th century, in the Bertranges state forest. Jacques Charlois worked there as a forester and stave splitter. From the outset, the Charlois family was built around a deep understanding of oak — its structure, its grain, and the way it behaves over time. The relationship with the forest was direct, grounded in observation and a mastery of the material.
Over the generations, this expertise was passed down and strengthened. The craft of stave milling became the foundation of Charlois expertise: selecting trees, splitting oak in respect of its natural grain, overseeing natural seasoning, and ensuring that every gesture followed a commitment to quality and sustainability. This long-term culture shaped a demanding approach, where the value of the product depends on the accuracy of decisions made upstream.
In 2005, Sylvain Charlois initiated a new phase of development by founding the eponymous Group. His ambition was to preserve the forest and its resources, safeguard the crafts, and secure their future. Charlois expanded by bringing together expert Houses — guardians of living heritage craftsmanship — in France, Europe, and the United States, covering the entire value chain, from the forest to the transformation of oak into premium products.
Today, Charlois continues along this path, evolving the uses of oak while never losing sight of its origins.
Our Purpose
CHAMPIONING WHAT THE FOREST GIVES US
We continuously reinvent our value chain to further optimize and enhance oak, entrusted exclusively to highly specialized houses practicing high value-added crafts.
We work with a rare and precious material that demands patience and the long term. That timespan carries responsibilities. It compels us to think beyond economic cycles, to make measured decisions, and to anchor every action in continuity.
The forest alone decides. We never take more than it gives.
Future-Focused Growth
OUR JOURNEY
Since 2005, Charlois has built its growth through successive stages. By strengthening our crafts, integrating new areas of expertise, and gradually expanding internationally, we have developed a robust model, true to our standards of quality, mastery and sustainability.
A Resilient Organization
Our Vision for the Future
The strength of Charlois lies in its ability to bring together highly specialized houses with rare and precious expertise, and to invest in complementary crafts operating across sectors that are themselves economically complementary.
This structure provides unique resilience, with each sector balancing and elevating the whole.
By diversifying our activities in this way, we protect and elevate our houses and their crafts while affirming our ambition: to explore new horizons in bringing wood to its highest level of valorization.
By combining creativity with high standards, we are building a solid and sustainable model — one capable of elevating the forest and the craftsmanship that brings out its full value ever higher.
Charlois
OUR KEY FIGURES
Our pride lies in the richness of our Houses, the diversity of our crafts, and the commitment of our people. Together, we form a living Group, united by a shared passion for oak, for the forest, and for craftsmanship — passed down through generations and continuously reimagined.
39
Houses
16
Different and Complementary Crafts
+1,311
Employees Worldwide
+60
Countries to Which We Export Our Products
THE CHARLOIS FUND
Here, the forest inspires artists and nourishes creativity.
