Three months after its launch, Toujust adjusts its model

It is the newcomer to the landscape of large distribution. Launched three months ago with the promise of offering prices 5-10% cheaper than its direct competitors, Toujust has run into some difficulties that are already forcing you to revise your copy.

Because the recent supply problems that have affected up to 60% of the offer in recent months have frozen the opening of stores. The company, which initially hoped to open 50 outlets by 2023, is now aiming for twenty.

“The difficulty is making manufacturers want to join us”

“In fact, there are difficulties. (…) We have decided to slow down development this year to consolidate our suppliers and the organization of our stores and make sure that our teams can also continue,” explains Fabrice Gerber, founder of BFM Business. only

“Today we have to move slowly because some detractors are pointing fingers at us. Our model is a bit scary, it’s something new…”, she added. In fact, Toujust intends to cut out the middlemen as much as possible and work directly with the producers. For this, its suppliers are associated with the capital through a 25% participation. 160 of them have so far joined the network.

“We have said it from the beginning, the difficulty is to make industrialists want to join us”, admitted Fabrice Gerber, before recalling that “their responsibility is not engaged” in case of financial difficulties “because they are in a different legal process”. . structure”.

Less referrals

Beyond the slowdown in the rate of openings, Toujust has begun to review its organization: “We have already changed many things since we reviewed the entire layout of the store for three months,” emphasizes Fabrice Gerber. “We reduced the number of references. We started with 11,000 references”, compared to 2,500 to 4,000 for its direct competitors Aldi and Lidl.

To date, Toujust has four stores. “We are very satisfied with the openings (…), we are continuing our growth, we have two openings scheduled for the end of August,” says Fabrice Gerber. The brand still has plans to establish itself abroad in the long term, in particular in Spain, Portugal, Morocco or Switzerland.