This is an important step to safeguard the 26 Galeries Lafayette stores owned by Michel Ohayon in the provinces. His main creditor validated on Wednesday the plan to continue the activity, pending the decision of the Bordeaux commercial court, reserved for March 20.
The Galeries Lafayette group, from which the Bordeaux businessman had purchased these brands in 2018 and 2021, “accepted the safeguard plan proposed by Mr. Ohayon, which was modified,” Stéphane Kadri told the press before the closed-door hearing. , Lawyer for Hermione Retail’s Central Social and Economic Committee (CSEC), which oversees the majority of the 26 stores.
Galeries Lafayette, contacted by AFP, did not want to comment, but, according to a source close to the group, they decided to support the project presented by Michel Ohayon, who owes them tens of millions of euros.
“In the latest version of the plan, it made concessions that will give a boost to the operations of the stores and the group takes note of this,” this source observed to AFP.
“Galeries Lafayette abandons 70% of its credits, accepts that the remaining 30% be paid within a period of 10 years, review the commission rate in two years and at the same time, tonight, the forecast of a rate growth from 11% to 4%. We said that 11% was not realistic,” added the lawyer. According to him, only the inter-union is still opposed to the plan, supported by all the creditors and agents, who had until Tuesday to decide. .
Employees “relieved” but “disappointed”
The Galeries Lafayette group, also the main supplier of the 26 stores that employ a thousand employees, is “lucid about the fragility of the situation of these stores but wants to give an opportunity to Hermione Retail”, whose liabilities amounted to 153 million euros at the end of 2023, estimates a source close to the group.
“Employees will be relieved to keep their jobs, but they will be disappointed to keep the same shareholder. We would have expected to have more changes, with a buyer who would guarantee better management of our company,” Muriel Scanzi declared before the hearing. , central delegate of provincial brands of the CFDT and employee of the Bayonne store.
“We are in reserve. We still have this fear of the future and the sustainability of the company. We have almost the same promises as five years ago: investments, repairs in stores, bringing new brands to stores… but in five years we have “I have seen very little of its color,” he stressed.
Support from elected officials
The 26 stores employ around 1,000 employees in Agen, Amiens, Angoulême, Bayonne, Beauvais, Belfort, Besançon, Caen, Cannes, Chalon-sur-Saône, Chambéry, Dax, La Roche-sur-Yon, La Rochelle, Libourne, Lorient , Montauban, Niort, Rouen, Saintes, Tarbes and Toulon, as well as in Tours, Pau, Rosny-sous-Bois and in an establishment in Coquelles, near Calais.
Galeries Lafayette directly operates 19 stores in France, including the historic one on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris; In addition to Michel Ohayon’s 26, another 13 are managed by the Société des Grands Magasins or by local businessmen.
The association of elected officials “Villes de France” announced in a press release that it “will not abandon” the Galeries Lafayette stores, “essential locomotives” in city centers. It is “unthinkable that we leave these premises unoccupied and without activity, in case of rejection of the protection plan presented,” he declares.
Michel Ohayon has bought numerous textile brands in recent years, including Camaïeu, liquidated in September 2022. The businessman, going through significant financial difficulties, had to sell Go Sport and Gap France.
Source: BFM TV
