The Paris Commercial Court pronounced, on Wednesday July 19, the judicial liquidation in France of the fast delivery companies of Getir and Gorillas, announced Marie-Sophie Vincent, a lawyer representing the employees of Gorillas, to a journalist from the Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the end of the hearing.
Gorillas has belonged since 2022 to the Turkish giant Getir, whose French subsidiary had been in receivership since March and had decided to leave the French market. Getir France totaled 200 million euros in debt at the end of March, according to an internal note to the company that AFP consulted.
“Not surprised” of the decision, the employees “were just waiting for the case to be over after the roller coaster of the last few months”explains Rémy Frey, of the CGT commerce of Paris. “We are all very tired”adds Olivier Coulibaly, employee and staff representative of Gorillas.
“A plan, worked on by the staff representation, was rendered null and void by the company, which refused to finance it at the last momentannounced to the news agency Me vincent. Today the question [porte sur le] PES [plan de sauvegarde de l’emploi] And [sur le] payment of wages. »
“Nazim Salur [le fondateur de Getir] does not respect its commitment made to the commercial court [de] pay salaries for July 2023, [ce qui] plunges employees into precariousness”abounded for his part Johann Tchissambou, CFDT union representative of Getir France.
Regulatory tightening
Getir France accuses “an unfavorable contextual environment”in the face of inflation and regulatory tightening in France in recent months, a reason also cited by the French subsidiary of the German group Flink placed in receivership in June, to discuss its financial difficulties.
In March, the sector suffered a major setback, with the government decreeing, following a decision by the Council of State, that “dark stores” – the premises where the products to be delivered are stored – were warehouses, not shops, paving the way for town halls to regulate this activity, and even the closure of certain premises.
In 2022, the Getir brand had a combined turnover of 23.8 million euros, Gorillas 26.6 million euros and Frichti 69.9 million euros, for a total of 120.3 million euros for the Getir group in France.
The French subsidiary has seventy stores and two warehouses in France, and employs 841 people (staff as of 1er May 2023), according to the figures released by the court administrators in the sale offer. For its part, Gorillas concentrates thirty stores in France for five hundred employees – and Frichti, another entity of Getir, has for its part twenty-four stores, a warehouse, a kitchen, and employs 367 employees. In total, the Getir group thus employs 1,708 people in France.