The Bordeaux commercial court will examine on February 14 the business continuation plan proposed by businessman Michel Ohayon for the twenty stores Galeries Lafayette which he holds in the provinces, we learned on Thursday January 18 from an employee lawyer.
The hearing was originally scheduled to take place on January 10 but the plan had not yet been finalized.
The Hermione Retail company, which oversees most of the 26 stores placed in backup procedure since last February, employing a thousand employees in total, finally filed it on January 12.
“We are subordinated to the position adopted by the Galeries Lafayette group, the main creditor and above all the main supplier of the stores owned by Hermione Retail”added the council.
“We’ve been losing turnover for four years”
Michel Ohayon acquired from the family group, in 2018, 22 stores located in Agen, Amiens, Angoulême, Bayonne, Beauvais, Belfort, Besançon, Caen, CannesChalon-sur-Saône, Chambéry, Dax, La Roche-sur-Yon, La Rochelle, Libourne, Lorient, Montauban, Niort, Rouen, Saintes, Tarbes and Toulon.
The businessman took over three others in 2021 in Tours, Pau and Rosny-sous-Bois, as well as an outlet in Coquelles near Calais.
According to a union delegate interviewed on January 10, the continuation plan provides for a sale of the Pau store and a waiver of 70% of debts.
“They’ve been telling us the same things for a year, that they’re going to increase turnover to generate margin and repay their debts, but how are we going to do it? We’ve been losing money for four years, of sales”, said Véronique Guichenay, employee of the Dax store.
Opinion unfavorable to a continuation of the activity
According to a source close to the case, before the last hearing, the judicial representative issued an opinion unfavorable to a continuation of the activity, the liabilities having increased despite the safeguard procedure: they reached 153 million euros at the end of December .
The court must also examine, on February 14, the situation of Financière Immobilier Bordeaux (FIB), the main holding company of Michel Ohayon which brought together other textile brands (Camaïeu, Go Sport, Gap France) bought back in recent years and liquidated or sold 18 months ago due to significant debt.