“For a company that prides itself on ethics, they would have had the opportunity to show the reality of their commitments. And there, it’s bullshit. » Vice-president of the Professional Sport & Outdoor Association, Yannick Vallencant is very annoyed. On March 7, he sent Fabien Derville, chairman of the board of directors of Decathlon, an open letter expressing his indignation that the brand remains open in Russia, when the entire sports world is mobilized to sanction it, enclosing “not to sacrifice business ethics”… “Decathlon’s culture is people first”, we defend ourselves at the sports equipment distributor.
Its first concern is for the 2,500 people employed in its 60 Russian stores who have to work “under safe conditions”. The question will arise if the latter are no longer guaranteed, indicates the group, specifying that the Russian population finds in its stores essential products at affordable prices, such as parkas to dress and face the cold.
While other symbols of Western consumption such as Sephora, Ikea or Hermès have announced that they are temporarily suspending their activity in Russia, the pressure is increasing on the brands owned by the Mulliez family, which have been established in the country for twenty years. A pioneer, Auchan set up its first hypermarkets in 2002. Leroy Merlin quickly followed in 2004, with its DIY stores, and Decathlon, in sports, set up its stores there in 2006. The three brands employ 77,500 people locally.
Major economic challenges
Accustomed to discretion, the Mulliez nevertheless conform to their favorite adage: “Noise does no good, and good makes no noise. » Low profile despite increasingly strong pressure from their unions in France, who were moved by this uncomfortable situation during a group committee meeting on Tuesday March 8.
“Being there to help the population does not mean that we endorse”, we explain at Auchan
Third player in the food distribution market in Ukraine, and in the top 5 in Russia, Auchan justifies its presence by the “need of the population to feed itself despite the war”. “And it is our job to respond to them in the best possible conditions. Being present to help the population does not mean that we endorse, we explain at Auchan. In Ukraine, the brand is also keeping 41 of its 43 stores open. The distributor just agrees to stop all its investments in Russia. Leroy Merlin, for his part “do not wish to speak” on its decision to continue working in the country, and specifies that the employees of its six Ukrainian stores, closed at the start of the conflict, received two months’ salary in advance.
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