The women's ready-to-wear giant "has requested the opening of receivership proceedings with a continuation plan at the Lille Commercial Court", and its situation will be examined during a hearing on Monday afternoon, a indicated the direction of Camaieu in a message to AFP.
"Camaieu's request is motivated by an acceleration of the company's difficulties and more particularly by the consequences" of a judgment of the Court of Cassation, dated June 30, "refusing traders to lower rents during the covid period. “, explained the management.
"The main objective of Camaieu's request is to preserve the sustainability of the company," she said.
Questioned earlier by AFP, the president of the Lille commercial court confirmed that he had received a declaration of "cessation of payment" by the managing company, Aciam (which belongs to the FIB) on Monday morning.
According to a source familiar with the matter, this request is made "in view of the difficulty of times in terms of retail and the difficulty of taking over Camaieu" which is encountering "difficulties in payment to donors".
At the end of June, the daily Le Monde had reported on the concerns of the unions of Camaieu, according to which the company no longer paid the rents of nearly half of the stores operated in France.
"For months the CGT has been taking action to denounce the strategy of the management and the shareholder on the choice to no longer pay the lessors (several hundred procedures), the Court of Cassation has ruled, the companies will have to pay “, denounced Monday the CGT delegate Thierry Siwik, in a message sent to the press.
In August 2020, the FIB had taken over 511 of the 634 stores in France and around 2,600 employees out of more than 3,100, launching a major transformation plan and "fundamental work on the brand and the offer".
The new management then gave itself two years to restore the company to equilibrium, with the objective of regaining in 2023 the turnover of 2019 - 570 million euros.
© 2022 AFP