2023-06-29 19:02:53
From Drôme to California, the mythical shoemaker Clergerie, symbol of French know-how in difficulty for years, is taken over by an American company. The company, placed in receivership at the end of March, falls into the hands of Titan Footwear, according to a decision of the Paris commercial court dated Thursday and which AFP obtained. “The insolvency administrators are in favor of Titan’s (Footwear) proposal, it is the only option which makes it possible to avoid a dry liquidation”, underlines the decision.
In financial difficulty, the company founded in 1981 in Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme) by Robert Clergerie had found favor only in the eyes of a single potential buyer: Titan Footwear, a Californian company which claims to be specialized in high fashion shoe. A subsidiary of the American group Titan Industries, it already owns high-end shoe brands, such as Daniel X Diamond and Badgley Mischka, and indicates that it has achieved a gross annual turnover of 50 million dollars in 2022.
Clergerie, which exported its shoes to Hollywood during its golden age and dressed Lauren Bacall’s feet at Madonna, suffered from the unfavorable economic situation which is also hitting ready-to-wear hard. Titan Footwear therefore bought it for 700,000 euros, with “initial investments (revival of activity and brand)” of an amount of 6.5 million, according to the terms of the offer registered in mid-June at the registry of the commercial court. of Paris and confirmed by the company’s lawyer.
Relocation and staff cuts
If the group has promised to keep a “minimum production in the workshops of Romans”, it intends to lean on a Spanish company whose “collaborations are made in India, China and Morocco” to relocate part of the production, can we read in the takeover offer. It would be a historic break for the shoemaker, which was until now one of the last to manufacture leather shoes in France in its factory, just like Paraboot, J.-M. Weston or Heschung.
The recovery plan validated by the court also makes sharp cuts in the workforce of Clergerie, Titan Footwear having only committed to keeping 45% of the staff. In detail, about thirty jobs are retained (out of about 90) for the production part, a dozen (out of about 20) for design and marketing and about twenty (out of more than 30) for the marketing of products. But this offer “risks being improved” with more job retention, according to a source familiar with the matter at AFP.
“They are committed to maintaining the workforce for two years, but after that, what are they going to do? We are afraid that they will keep the brand and produce entirely abroad ”, was moved to AFP Christophe Chanron, CFE-CGC union representative, at the Paris Commercial Court on June 14.
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