The San Marina brand will not disappear. On February 20, the company of the same name was placed in forced liquidation with immediate cessation of activity. The Commercial Court of Marseille, the city where the brand was created in 1981, had ruled that “no serious acquisition project (had) been able to be supported” and that “the current leaders (had) been unable to achieve their reserve project”. offer, in the absence of an investor.” The brand had about 650 employees in about 160 stores.
But the Chaussea group told AFP on Wednesday that it had “purchased the San Marina brand by a decision of the Marseille commercial court on May 10.”
“A very wide reputation among the general public”
In early April, liquidator Noz had taken over the physical stock of the company and announced the purchase of 310,000 pieces of San Marina including “men’s and women’s shoes, accessories (scarves, scarves), some pieces of leather goods and cleaning products.”
Chaussea, which defines itself as the “leader in the distribution of footwear in France”, has nearly 500 points of sale and more than 4,000 employees.
“San Marina has a very broad reputation among the general public. Through this acquisition, Chaussea intends to revive this brand as in the good old days of Michel Scotto”, its founder.
Specific corners in the Chaussea stores
This brand, based in Meurthe-et-Moselle, had received the green light from the Competition Authority in 2021 to buy 128 of the approximately 500 La Halle stores, a clothing and footwear chain that had been put into recovery the previous year.
Like other brands in the sector such as André, San Marina, with an estimated turnover of 79 million euros in 2022 but a liability close to 56 million euros, had particularly suffered from social movements such as the yellow vests after the 2020 health crisis. and its consequences, as well as competition from online sales and inflation.
Source: BFM TV
