Photo of a commercial storefront of the Habitat brand, specializing in home furnishings and equipment, on July 2, 2013 in Paris (AFP/Archives/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)
The Bobigny court on Thursday placed Habitat into compulsory liquidation due to its serious financial difficulties, thus sealing the fate of a brand that has democratized design for decades.
Everything will have happened very quickly: less than ten days after the placement in receivership of this company specializing in furnishing and home equipment which employs 383 people, the receivers announced on December 15 in the social and economic committee ( CSE) that they were going to request its liquidation, given the particularly deteriorated situation of the accounts.
Thursday, in its decision which AFP consulted, the court “pronounced the conversion of the judicial recovery procedure into judicial liquidation without maintaining the company’s activity”.
Habitat France currently employs 315 employees and generated a turnover of 65 million euros in 2022. The parent company, Habitat Design International, employs 68 people and had a turnover of 51.8 million euros in 2022.
The court recalls that it “appeared from the report of the judicial administrator that there is no possibility of developing a recovery plan” and that the situation was “irremediably compromised” for Habitat in particular “because of the ‘lack of cash and the impossibility of using the brand’.
“The company no longer has any turnover, the stores are closed” and “the outstanding balance of undelivered customers who have paid a deposit is 9 million euros”, it is specified in the judgment.
In a letter sent to AFP on Wednesday evening, Thierry Le Guénic, the buyer of Habitat in 2020, admits to having “not succeeded in meeting this challenge, just like the previous shareholders”.
While believing that he was able to avoid “any social plan” and claiming to have invested more than 12 million euros in digital technology and the opening of points of sale, Thierry Le Guénic concedes that his projects and ambitions “could not be carried out in a very unfavorable economic context (…) and in the face of obvious internal resistance”.
Today, “another phase is opening, and we are now committed to helping find any reclassification solution for our employees,” adds the businessman.
– “never profitable in France” –
The brand, which has 25 stores in France, was founded in 1964 by the British designer Terence Conran (died in 2020), with the aim of offering furniture and decorative objects that are both sober, at an affordable price. clean and modern.
On November 30, the group’s management explained, however, that its request for placement in recovery was “aimed at stabilizing the financial situation” of the brand, which “has never been profitable in France”, and “to ensure its long-term viability.
It then assured “to prepare a recovery plan by way of continuation” and affirmed that its “main objective was to ensure the payment of all suppliers and the delivery of orders to customers”.
But once the judicial administrators delved into the accounts, they quickly noted that “the conditions were not met for a continuation of the activity” and that there were “more obstacles than opportunities “, a source close to the matter explained to AFP.
Habitat’s difficulties are not recent. The brand was already in a net loss when it was put up for sale in 2019 by its owner at the time, the distributor Cafom. Habitat had previously belonged to the American investment fund Hilco and the Swedish Kamprad family (also owners of Ikea).
In 2020, the brand was bought by entrepreneur-investor Thierry Le Guénic. The same year, this businessman bought the clothing brand Burton of London, which was placed in receivership last summer and which did not find a buyer.
Mr. Le Guénic also took over the ready-to-wear brand Paule Ka and the Maison Lejaby lingerie brand. He was also part of a trio of investors, including Stéphane Collaert, who bought Chevignon from Vivarte in 2019.
© 2023 AFP
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