In 1919, Stamoulis Stratos and Christophoros Catsambas founded the Patras Trade-Industrial Company ("Patraiki"), producing stockings.
After the war ended, raw materials were scarce, but the firm tried to regroup and install new plants, with a view to exports.
In 1950 the firm began constructing the Megalo Pefko plant, the first factory to be built in Greece after the war.
By 1953 the Greek market was flooded with foreign imports, while the firm's pre-war plants were old and inefficient (with the exception of the post-war Megalo Pefko factory).
However, in the 1970s the company faced many problems, due to the global oil crisis, unrest and strikes by the labor force and difficult relations between the owners and the Greek government.
In the early 1980s, the new socialist government of Andreas Papandreou nationalized the company, kicking out the Stratos family and appointing a new management.