It’s a Nice adventure with an American twist. There success story of Lobsta, started in 2018 rue Halévy, has it turned sour?
The alert came from the group’s restaurant located in the La Part-Dieu shopping center in Lyon. “Our bosses haven’t paid us for almost five monthscracks the manager who took the reins of this kiosk at the start of the year, in an email sent to Nice-Matin. We are in a precarious situation (…)bosses do not respond to letters and emails addressed to them (…).”
If the first five months were “pretty well gone”Gabriel Benoit and his team first suffered “late payments” of “A few days” until “three weeks”. The thirty-year-old accuses Lobsta management of “to lie”. The only solution according to them: file an interim appeal before the industrial tribunal. The verdict will be delivered this Wednesday.
Lobsta assumes and responds
“We are really sorry regarding this one-off situation”assumes the president of the Lobsta company, Fabien Bonnaud who does not deny a “context not so simple”. The forty-year-old, however, wants to put the church back in the middle of the village: “That there are delays is detrimental to the employees. The company has always paid part of the salaries, even if it was low. We do the best we can. We are not thugs, we try to make it out.”
The businessman from Tourrette-Levens believes he is “at war with people who sabotage work”. It lists: “thousands of euros disappearing from the boxes”, “video surveillance cameras disconnected”, “the abandonment of any presumed activity”, “the manager refused to recruit and carry out maintenance on this kiosk”etc. “Unable to hire (…) because disgruntled employees informed new ones of delays [de salaires] and they did not finish the trial periods”writes him, Gabriel Benoit.
“Restaurant activity has declined sharply since the end of summer”, argues Fabien Bonnaud. The intervention of the labor inspectorate? “We were made observations but no verbalizations”declares the boss of Lobsta who assures him: “There is a procedure underway. They will all be paid. The company will be held accountable for these commitments.”
Fabien Bonnaud (right), at the Lobsta kiosk in Lyon in 2022.(DR).
A change of strategy
Launched in 2018 in the heart of Nice, Lobsta quickly won over and grew quickly. Kiosks opened immediately in the city’s two airport terminals. Then, “from 2021, we had the opportunity to develop in shopping centers,” confides president Fabien Bonnaud. The lobster roll with Niçoise sauce incorporates the best of France, in the Paris suburbs and in Lyon in particular. “At the time it was attractive,” says the leader who is then supported by large groups.
But the expected results are not there although today the group can boast of managing nine establishments in the country, including three in Nice.
Focus on travel retail
“At Nice airport we have a brand that works well and an excellent partnership,” says Fabien Bonnaud. It is in this sector of travel retail (commerce in stations and airports) that Lobsta now wants to regroup: “We offer something different to the traveler. »
“The company is looking for partners” following its disappointment with its operations in shopping centers, we are told.
