2023-04-29 15:48:13
In recent months, we have lost count of the number of national brand shops that have closed their doors in the city center of Limoges. Camaïeu, San Marina, Burton… and soon André, Pimkie. The reasons are many: rental prices, inflation, new consumption patterns…
“It is with regret that our team and your store say goodbye…”. These few words posted at the entrance to the André shoe store, at the top of rue du Clocher, announce to customers the closing of the trade from May 3.
The four employees only heard the news a few days agoeven if the placement in receivership of the company in February had alerted them.
“There are a lot of difficulties in the world of commerce today. This is due to several factors: the price of rents which is exorbitant and continues to rise without any regulation on the part of the Statethe cost of utilities and energy, online sales and competition from cheaper Asian products, which are more attractive in times of inflation”analyzes Adrien Baruteau, relay sales advisor at André Limoges.
This employee reveals the rent for this 160 m² store in the heart of the city: 5500€… One of the reasons that prompted the national brand, established since the post-war period on rue du Clocher, to give up its downtown boutique.
In this same rue du Clocher, pedestrian and commercial artery in the heart of the city, several other national brands have closed shop in recent months: Camaïeu, St. Marinaand at the corner of rue Jean Jaurès: Burtonwhose premises remain unoccupied for the time being.
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This is not the case for the premises of the former Camaïeu trade, which found an occupant barely a month and a half after closing. The Valège lingerie brand was looking to set up in the city centerand negotiated the rent for this 200 m² pitch. “The owners of certain premises have made a gesture so that the rents drop and that certain brands can settle. We jumped at the chance, and we are very happy to invest in this place”says Aicha Abbou, the manager of the underwear store.
A little higher, another shoe store, the limougeaude Fournier brand, renamed Société de Distribution Centrale, has 16 stores in France, in town centers and on the outskirts. It has 70 employees and is the subject of a safeguard procedure to repay the PGEs (loans guaranteed by the State) contracted during the Covid period. “The repayment times are very short, too short compared to a recovery that is not as obvious as expected. In addition, growth is not there and the charges are very heavy to bear “explains the CEO Michel Fournier who is sorry that consumer access to the city center is becoming more and more complicated.
Other brands plan to leave the city center soon to focus on their presence in shopping centers. This is the case of Pimkie, which should close its store on rue du Clocher before the end of the year, to keep the one in the center of Saint-Martial. same for me MicromaniaConsulate Street.
“Big brands in city centers no longer represent today’s consumer society”, analyzes Jean-François Pailloux, president of the association “Pignon sur rue 87” which brings together around a hundred traders, “In the city centre, these are people who want quality and a brand and are ready to pay the price for it. Small businesses have a place to take, because they stick more to the demand for land, which does not is not that of 30 years ago”.
Rue Adrien Dubouché, long damaged, is taking this turn, with the recent installation of several small local businesses, such as the custom-made shoe designer Uniqua, the Comptoir du Thé and a bookstore specializing in comic strips and manga.
video duration: 00h01mn47s
Following a national receivership last February, the André de Limoges shoe store will close its doors on May 2. After San Marina, Burton, Camaïeu, it is a new “big brand” that is disappearing from the landscape of the hyper city center…
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©Martial Codet-Boisse and Carole Maillard
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