Nearly 4,000 jobs threatened, in 634 stores in France ... Employees of the Camaïeu brand, in receivership after having suffered the shock of the coronavirus crisis, met Saturday morning around 10 am in Lille to mobilize their customers and send a message to potential buyers: the women's ready-to-wear brand must live. Already weakened before the crisis, Camaïeu had planned a recovery plan and was negotiating a new agreement with the banks, but the pandemic and the brutal closure of 800 stores in France and around the world have dashed the new impetus that leaders wanted to instill.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation on Saturday June 13
"A golden deal for a buyer"
With a 95% drop in turnover, 162 million euros in losses, and failing to obtain a loan guaranteed by the State, judicial recovery was inevitable ... Today the stores have reopened but the future remains uncertain for the 3,900 employees, some of whom therefore meet in front of a shop in downtown Lille on Saturday morning.
>> Find Bernard Poirette's morning show in replay and in podcast here
"We have been serving our customers for more than 30 years. Today we are calling for their support: how can the leader in women's ready-to-wear disappear?" Asks Thierry Siwick, CGT delegate. "We have the largest establishment of stores in France, it's a golden affair for a buyer. And we will knock on all doors."
In particular that of the Ministry of the Economy: Bruno Le Maire recently affirmed that the search for a buyer for Camaïeu occupied him from morning to evening, remains to be seen at what price and with what consequences on jobs. The deadline for submitting files for candidate buyers has been set for June 29.