The northern brand Camaïeu declared Monday in “cessation of payments” and “requested the opening of a receivership proceedings with continuation plan at the Commercial Court of Lille “, almost two years following its takeover by the Financière immobilière bordelaise, indicated the management. His situation will be examined at a hearing on Monday followingnoon
“Camaïeu’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 the drop in rents during the Covid period “Explained the management of the women’s ready-to-wear giant. “The main objective of Camaïeu’s request is to preserve the sustainability of the company”, she specified.
Store rents are no longer being paid
Questioned earlier by AFP, the president of the Lille commercial court had confirmed that he had received a declaration of “cessation of payments” on Monday morning from the managing company, Aciam (which belongs to the FIB). According to a source familiar with the matter, this request is made “in view of the difficulty of the times in terms of retail and the difficulty of the takeover of Camaïeu” which is encountering “difficulties in payment to donors”.
At the end of June, the daily The world raised the concerns of unions de Camaïeu, according to which the company no longer paid the rents of nearly half of the stores operated in France. “For months the CGT takes 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 “substantial 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, around 570 million euros.
