• France: Duralex bankruptcy, the empire of indestructible tableware

The famous

French

glassware

Duralex

finally achieved a buyer this week that saved it from bankruptcy and will be able to continue producing its glasses with a

reputation as unbreakable

, present for years in the kitchens of many countries around the world.

The commercial court of Orleans on Thursday gave its approval to the offer presented by the

French tableware

and kitchenware group International Cookware.

This news ends months of anguish, after Duralex was the

subject of a judicial liquidation

since September 2020.

Duralex is known the world over:

from schools in France

to design objects at MoMA in New York, to the glass used by James Bond for a whiskey at

Skyfall

.

In school canteens in France, children have always played at

guessing their age based on the Duralex glass they received

that day.

On the bottom of the glasses of the brand's Gigogne model, one of the most commercialized, transparent and with a horizontal line in the middle, there is always engraved a figure from one to 48 depending on the

mold used to make it

, which served the children to invent this game.

Promote 'Made in France'

However, this global fame failed to attract more firms interested in saving it from bankruptcy and

only three companies submitted offers

, of which two did not prosper.

International Cookware, the other great tempered glass expert in France, submitted a judge-approved bid for

3.55 million euros

($ 4.2 million), accompanied by an ambitious business and industrial plan.

According to the president of the group, José Luis Llacuna, they want to give Duralex, a symbol of Made in France, a

place in world markets again

.

At this time, the famous glassware, created in 1945, employs 248 people.

Its ultra-resistant tableware is in some

way part of the national heritage

and it is difficult to find a Frenchman who has not had a soft drink or a coffee in their famous amber glasses.

But for the past 15 years financial problems have accumulated due to an

outdated trade policy and outdated industrial tools

.

In 2005, the company declared bankruptcy and came under the control of a Turkish businessman whose management made the company on the verge of disappearing.

It was

saved in extremis in 2008

by the current owners, the brothers Antoine and André Ioannidès.

Since 2017, new financial difficulties appeared and an

industrial accident caused a reduction

in production from which the firm has not yet been able to recover.

Debt of 32 million

The accounts worsened last year, with the pandemic and the

disappearance of some markets abroad that represent 80% of its turnover

.

When the company entered the judicial liquidation phase, it accumulated 32 million euros (38 million dollars) of debt.

Now, its new buyers want to invest more than 17 million euros ($ 20 million) until 2024.

Their goal is to "sell more", and to do so they will activate their sales representatives and distributors around the world, and

also "sell better"

the indestructible glasses, thanks to a new communication strategy and online commerce.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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