In 1977 at the age of 18, Dominique Mottas opened his first discotheque, the Cash-Box which ten years later would become the Arthur's club. During the intervening decade, Dominique also founded Vinurba, an international handling company for Bordeaux grand cru wines, as well as laying the foundations for a burgeoning business empire.

Arthursgroup was founded in 1985 and specialises in dining, entertainment and events.

It opens cafés, bars, lounges, restaurants and clubs, handles their public image and organises private and public events within these locations.

The group was founded by Dominique Mottas, who is managing director, and Nicole Codourey, overall artistic director of the various companies within the group. Dominique and Nicole also design the new venues and products as well as the visual identity for Willi's and Arthur's.
 

The Willi's winebar chain is launched, well before wine-bars come into fashion in switzerland. The first opens in Moudon in 1985.

The first ever Arthur's Café-restaurant-discotheque opens in Arnex-sur-Orbe. An avant-garde foretaste of today's Restaurant-lounge-club concept.

The original Arthur's club was not simply the first in a chain – it was the birth of a concept and an overall image designed in conjunction with Nicole Codourey: bold yet sophisticated interior design which combines the grand and the spectacular with the cosy elements you would expect to find in a high-quality members' club.

Together, Dominique and Nicole have steered a course for the entire branding of the group.

Willi's Winebar opens in Freiburg – a new type of venue combining a piano-bar and a DJ.

The popular magazines turn out in force to witness the inauguration of the Arthur's private club in Lausanne at the Galeries Saint-François.
 

Willi's Winebar opens in Geneva on the rue du Mont-Blanc – a cosmopolitan urban café at the heart of an eclectic area of the city around the station.

Key year in the development of the group with the opening in Geneva of the third Arthur's club – the largest club in Switzerland with spectacular interior design stretching over 3000 m².
The club gets an international reputation for the quality of its breath-taking shows, events and soirées as well as its prestigious members list.

First Willi's café in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, in Basle, featuring live concerts.
 

Launch of the Swater mineral water brand : Arthur's swater

Willi's café opens in Biel – the first cocktail-bar in the chain.

Arthur's club in Geneva hosts the chain's first concerts in Switzerland featuring star Latin American musicians, Oscar D'Leon, Celia Cruz...
Launch of the Arthur's latino salsa club.

The Arthur’s Geneva club stretches over 3000 m2 and was already playing host to private receptions and shows as well as operating as a night club. Such a wide variety of activities led to the creation of a new company – Arthur's Events – which has organised literally hundreds of dinners and receptions, public and private events and stage, fashion and even television shows, reinforcing the impact of the group's brand and image throughout the media.

Arthur's Production was then created to promote concerts destined for a wider audience in concert venues throughout Switzerland. Phil Collins, Patrick Bruel and Céline Dion are the first big names which the company brings to the Geneva Arena.

The group reached the upper echelons of brand recognition with the opening of Arthur's rivegauche on the prestigious rue du Rhône. This bar-restaurant-lounge with its extravagant yet incredibly refined interior design represents a whole new side to the Arthur's universe while still corresponding to the group's visual identity. Also famous for its "homely" atmosphere.

Arthur's club in Geneva obtains permission to run a casino and changes its name to Le Casino du Lac.

Launch of the group's own brand of pure arabica coffee Arthur's caffè. The product itself as well as the bold design on the packaging are typically Arthur's and reaffirm the group's status in the restaurant milieu.

What the group still needed was its own dining establishment. In spring 2007, creation of  the RestO by Arthurs restaurant-lounge in the Swatch group's Cité du Temps in the bay of Geneva, marked the beginning of a partnership with Alain Senderens, the Michelin-starred chef from the Place de La Madeleine in Paris.

This magic venue with its contempory and arty decor (in the continuity of Arthur's label)  is signed always and again Nicole Codourey, the in-house interior designer.

The same culinary concept with the marriage of wines and flavours, the same creative yet refined cuisine also brought a "gastro" element to the Arthur's rivegauche menu, to coincide with the extension and refurbishment of the venue in June 2007 by Nicole Codourey.

New place on the right bank, new concept enhancing wine: 25 different wines, all available by the glass, and to take away at very affordable prices. A single dish: Swiss beef Rib eye steack, a winning formula updated to meet today's requirements: "Good, healthy and affordable".

The Arthur's group is constantly evolving while always maintaining a modern, top-of-the-range image which is totally in step with the spirit of the times. It goes beyond more fashion - Arthur's has its own style and image and above all a notion of quality that is timeless.