Famous for its macaroons, chocolates and delicatessen, symbols of French gastronomic refinement, the caterer Fauchon requested the placement in receivership of his Parisian activities, laminated by the health crisis and social movements.
This procedure concerns its own activities, that is to say the head office and the three Parisian stores located at Place de la Madeleine, Parisian address emblematic of the brand for more than 130 years, grouped within the Fauchon SAS subsidiary, A spokeswoman told AFP.
"This year has been very complicated"
"The majority of our clientele is tourist, but tourists have not returned, nor the clientele of offices in the 8th arrondissement (of the capital) on which we are very dependent", since the end, May 11, of the confinement put in room to stem the Covid-19 pandemic, she added. These two shops located at number 24 and 30 (which remain closed) on Place de la Madeleine, the tea shop located within the Hôtel Fauchon and the head office employ 130 people.
These Parisian activities had already seen their turnover decrease for "4 or 5 years", "with the attacks of 2015, the social movements and the strikes last Christmas, a period when we realize 30% of the annual turnover , then the administrative closure imposed by Covid ... this year was very complicated, "said the same source.
The turnover of the parent company, Fauchon SA group, whose main shareholder is the entrepreneur Michel Ducros - who in 1992 had sold the family spice group Ducros to Béghin-Say, before investing in the real estate in particular, and to acquire a stake in Fauchon in 1998 - was thus "severely impacted" by these events, while the "operating costs" of Parisian stores "became unsustainable", specifies a press release from management .
"Restore the operating balance of the company"
The latter informed staff representatives on Tuesday of the plan to open collective proceedings before the Commercial Court, during a meeting of the social and economic committee.
This procedure should make it possible to "restore the operating balance of the company, to strengthen links with its partners and to perpetuate its activity, in order to strengthen the deployment of its brand" which currently has 73 stores, points of sale and restaurants around the world - including 30 in Japan, 3 in Korea, 6 in Europe, 2 in Chile, 15 in the Middle East and, in France, 17 operated in franchise in addition to the 2 Parisian stores and point of sale owned .
"This restructuring is an essential step in the reorganization of the company and the maintenance of its vital balances," says management, deeming this solution "the most suitable to deal with the situation of financial deficit, especially in its place de la Madeleine, ”details a press release from the channel.
“Need to reinvent yourself”
Born in 1886, Fauchon recently launched into the luxury hotel industry by opening a five-star establishment with a café-restaurant in Paris in the fall of 2018. "We are very satisfied with it and a second hotel will open in Japan, in Kyoto, by the end of 2020," the spokeswoman told AFP. Ultimately, five Fauchon brand hotels could open in the coming decade, she said, particularly in the United States.
The brand today “needs to reinvent itself” to follow the evolution of consumption patterns, said the spokesperson, adding that a reflection will now open on the necessary transformations.
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