EN
COVERBOARD is a company that has respect for people and their heritage deeply rooted in its core. Our expertise in covering materials spans generations and we have been the primary supplier of those materials for related industries in the Greek market. We provide high-quality materials from leading manufacturers worldwide, meeting all quality and safety standards for both the environmental and human health. We listen closely at the needs and priorities of our clients and strive to ensure their complete satisfaction on a daily basis. We are always transparent about our business terms, while continuously seek new products and innovations. You can count on COVERBOARD to honour tradition while constantly moving forward.
The legacy of COVERBOARD begins on the outskirts of Amfissa, in the historic district of Harmaina, where, at the turn of the previous century, one could find a thriving community of tannery workshops. Here, the Gatos family passes down its expertise from generation to generation, with their family tradition in tanning becoming synonymous with the history of the neighborhood itself. Just a few years before the occupation, Vasileios Gatos moves his craft to Aigio, where he founds his own tannery.
Around the middle of the last century, after many hardships of the wartime years, Vasileios Gatos closes the tannery in Aigio and returns to his hometown. It is then that he turns to trade, establishing a family tradition that would become his lasting legacy. He begins buying leather from the tanners of Amfissa and traveling to Athens to sell it, laying the foundation for the family business that would endure for decades.
In the early 1960s, he, along with his son Ioannis Gatos, open a retail and wholesale shop in the heart of Athens’ commercial center, Monastiraki, on Agias Theklas Street. This small shop allows them to grow their customer base steadily. The Gatos name soon becomes well-established in the bookbinding market, initially expanding to Thessaloniki and gradually throughout Greece. To meet the increasing needs of their clients, they soon begin adding cardboard, adhesives, and various other raw materials for bookbinding to their inventory of products.
With the son of the Gatos family taking a leading role and looking to the future, father and son spend the next few decades visiting major European industrial centres, seeking new materials, innovations, and suppliers. The first imports of entirely new materials for the Greek market soon follows. Specialty papers, textile-coated papers, and PVC-coated papers quickly gain popularity amongst Greek bookbinders, offering ease of use, durability, and creative potential with fresh colours and designs. These new materials not only open up new opportunities for existing clients but also allow the Gatos family to enter the luxury packaging market, as box makers soon recognise the reliability of the Gatos name.
In November 1997, the family’s commercial activity is formally established as a legal entity with the founding of GATOS - PAPANASTASIOU O.E.. Before passing away, Ioannis Gatos passes on his experience and knowledge to the next generation, gradually handing over the reins of the business to his son-in-law, Theodoros Papanastasiou, and his daughter, Rania Gatos.
With fresh perspectives, the new generation searches for more ways to serve their growing clientele. They partner with Petros Sambaziotis, leading to the creation of the brand name Orographic Foils and the company SAMBAZIOTIS & SIA O.E. With its team already boasting a decade of experience in the field, the company quickly creates a buzz in the hot-stamping foil market and soon enters the industrial marking sector, initially introducing thermal transfer ribbons for barcode printers, followed by white adhesive labels.
GATOS - PAPANASTASIOU O.E. and SAMBAZIOTIS & SIA O.E. legally merge under the name COVERBOARD S.A., moving to larger, modern facilities and expanding rapidly. The range of materials offered by COVERBOARD multiplies, and the company soon establishes its own production unit for blank labels, also enriching its porftolio with industrial marking technology.
The brand name Chessboard is born to communicate the part of COVERBOARD’s business that focuses on industrial marking equipment and consumables. COVERBOARD's facilities and machinery expand and modernise, while its team and goals continuously grow.
Stronger than ever, we continue to look forward, with our philosophy remaining the same for nearly a century, with our first and foremost priority always being our clients. Our daily goal is to maintain your trust and meet your needs, from the smallest to the largest. Because we believe in people and their relationships.
More than 450 covering material codes in stock.
More than 200 foil codes in stock.
More than 60 paperboard codes in stock.
More than 100 auxiliary material codes in stock.
Continuous search for even more products and innovation.
Accepting orders from 1 meter, 1 sheet, or 1 piece, with custom foil dimensions. And if our stock isn't enough, you can order the products of your choice from the portfolios of the brands we represent, and they’ll be with you soon.
The quality of our offered products is our absolute priority. This is why we only work with the world’s leading manufacturers, whose policies we evaluate annually and whose materials we inspect upon every delivery.
Our absolute commitment is listening to your needs and priorities and striving for the best possible completion. We deliver quickly and accurately, with next-day delivery for in-stock materials.
