Tiphaine Dubuard / Photo credit: PHILIPPE LOPEZ / AFP 6:43 a.m., February 21, 2024

The commercial court must rule this Wednesday on the future of the 26 Galeries Lafayette stores owned by French businessman Michel Ohayon. According to information from Europe 1, this should approve the safeguard plan defended by the company's management.

Belfort, Rouen, La Rochelle, Angoulême...In total, 26 Galeries Lafayette stores are affected by the safeguard plan presented by Michel Ohayon before the Bordeaux commercial court this Wednesday.

An “inevitable” legal recovery

According to our information, this should be validated by the court. The 1,000 employees should therefore remain under the direction of the businessman. For them, such a decision would be far from unanimous. “Employees are stressed, tired and worried as the hearing approaches,” explains Muriel Scanzi, CFDT representative. According to the unionist, the employees do not want Michel Ohayon to remain at the head of the stores which would only postpone a legal recovery deemed "inevitable".

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Same story at the CFE CGC. According to Angélique Ziemba, employee of the group and union representative of the CFE CGC, the employees no longer believe in the businessman. “A one-year backup plan is a long time… it takes a long time to live,” she explains before specifying: “if it is postponed for a few months to go after a judicial recovery because the cash flow is not will not be sufficient to be able to allow activity in 2024, we might as well go into receivership.

Broken trust

Broken promises have broken trust among Galeries Lafayette employees. And they are no more reassured by Michel Ohayon's track record in recent months. He was unable to prevent the bankruptcy of Go Sport, Camaïeu, or Gap. In the LaFayette galleries file, 156 million euros of debt weighs on the Bordeaux resident, explains Maître Stéphane Kadri, lawyers for the staff representatives.

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“We do not see, we do not understand, we do not understand how Mr. Ohayon could make profitable stores whose commercial, financial and economic situation he has worsened for 5 years,” argues the lawyer. When contacted, the company manager's entourage did not wish to respond to requests from Europe 1.