The C&A stores logo (illustration image). – Wolfram Kastl / dpa / AFP
C&A management announced the closure of 30 stores in France at a central works council last Friday, sources on Wednesday said. These closings threaten 200
jobs.
The Dutch group has highlighted a drop in turnover in France. It is the second job-saving plan announced in less than a year, after 14 store closures implemented last April.
The difficult redeployment of employees
“The objective is to re-classify as many employees as possible, but it is sometimes very difficult, given the remoteness of the stores, we were able to re-classify only 14 employees out of a hundred during the last plan”, in April, explained to the ‘AFP Maria Rodrigues, central union delegate FO. The outlook is bleak for “an aging population, with many employees over 50 who have spent their entire careers at C&A,” she added.
C&A owned nearly 160 stores and 2,800 employees in France before the April 2019 closure wave. The group had however increased its logistics a few years ago, before suffering a drop in sales since 2016, according to Maria Rodrigues, who deplores an “unclear strategy”.
A sector weakened by online sales
The management of C&A, contacted by AFP, confirmed this plan of closings “in order to be able to adapt to the requirements of a constantly changing textile distribution sector, and return to profitability”. “On January 17, C&A submitted documents to the Central Extraordinary Business Committee concerning a new project to adapt its network, which could lead to the closure of 30 additional stores,” she said.
C&A (initials of the brothers Clemens and August Brenninkemeijer) has been a family business for six generations. “A historic family as the only shareholder who is nevertheless among the biggest fortunes in Europe, but at what cost? “Questions FO Commerce in a press release on Wednesday.
In a context of downsizing in distribution (Carrefour, Conforama, Auchan, etc.), the textile-clothing sector has been particularly weakened with a drop in consumption for the past two years and a rise in
online business. Several chains have also reduced the wing in recent months like New Look and Pimkie.
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