future of 26 French franchised stores to be finally decided on February 21

The future of 1,000 employees is hanging in the balance: the final ruling on the continuity plan for the 26 franchised Galeries Lafayette stores owned by French businessman Michel Ohayon has been postponed to February 21 by the Bordeaux trade court.

No decision was made at the court hearing held behind closed doors on Wednesday, since negotiations are still ongoing between Ohayon and his creditors, who have until February 20 to accept or reject his business continuity plan.

The court will then issue its ruling and, if it doesn’t approve the plan, it will have to place the stores in question, which filed for a protection procedure a year ago, into receivership.

The 26 stores have approximately 1,000 employees, and are based in the towns of Agen, Amiens, Angoulême, Bayonne, Beauvais, Belfort, Besançon, Caen, Cannes, Chalon-sur-Saône, Chambéry, Dax, La Roche-sur-Yon, La Rochelle, Libourne, Lorient, Montauban, Niort, Rouen, Saintes, Tarbes, Toulon, Tours, Pau, Rosny-sous-Bois and Coquelles, near Calais.

“My colleagues are tired of waiting, their lives have been on hold for a year,” said Véronique Guichenay, a representative of the CFDT union, while Michel Maire, representing Ohayon, tried for reassurance.

“It’s a long time, I understand, but we’re going to talk again, we’re keeping a positive attitude, and this plan needs to be approved, even if it’s not the best, because there’s no other solution,” he told members of the stores’ staff at the court.

According to one participant, the court-appointed representatives spoke along the same lines at the hearing.

But the stores’ inter-union employee committee spoke against the solution proposed to exit the protection procedure, which will expire on February 22.

The position of the creditors, including the Galeries Lafayette group, from which Ohayon bought the stores between 2018 and 2021, remains to be ascertained. Ohayon is asking creditors to cancel 70% of the stores’ debts, and spread the rest over 10 years.

Ohayon’s companies owe several tens of millions of euros to the group, the stores’ main supplier, for product inventory and the use of the Galeries Lafayette brand. Ohayon has also asked for a review of the franchising contract’s conditions.

Contacted by the AFP agency, the Galeries Lafayette’s communication office declined to comment.

With AFP