K.O. On the eve of the start of the sales, a period of discounted sales which opens this Wednesday, January 10 for four weeks, the clothing sector is stunned. Tuesday January 9, nearly 160 Minelli points of sale did not open their doors. The day before, the judges of the Marseille commercial court awarded the shoe brand, in receivership since September, to Mes Demoiselles, a women’s fashion brand. This SME takes over 39 branches, including 9 Parisian boutiques, 8 corners in department stores and 16 affiliated boutiques. The ax has fallen for the rest of the stores: they are liquidated.
The SME takes over 187 employees of the brand and 26 employees of the company’s head office located in Gémenos (Bouches-du-Rhône). The operation saves only 30% of jobs at Minelli, which employed 579 people for 220 points of sale. Since the liquidation of San Marina in February 2023, another shoe chain owned by businessmen Laurent Portella and Stéphane Collaert, taken over from the Vivarte group, staff have been worried about unpaid rents and the lack of merchandise in stores.
Anguish also grips the 700 Chaussexpo employees. This shoe brand, which operates 180 stores mainly in shopping areas located on the outskirts, was placed in liquidation by the Lille commercial court on Monday January 8. The judges granted the judicial administrators a period of almost two months to continue the activity until March 15 and “look for a disposal solution”. Otherwise ? All of the stores of this chain founded in 1987 in Templemars (North), near Lille, will close permanently.
Which investor could apply and take over this brand which competes with the low prices of Gémo and the plethora of offerings from online sales platforms such as Zalando? The question torments its employees. Especially since in 2017 and 2018 Chaussexpo has already undergone two social plans, reducing its workforce by more than 200 positions and reducing its network of 64 stores.
Dark scenario
Since then, the business has undergone administrative closure of stores in 2020 and 2021 to combat the spread of Covid-19. The market contracted. And it has never managed to return to the levels of activity of yesteryear. Worse: for two years, rising prices have encouraged the French to reduce their shoe purchases and clothing expenses. So much so that the sector is plunged into a deep crisis.
You have 60% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.