The Gap France teams are “temporarily forced to stop e-commerce orders to guarantee a sufficient quality of service”, it was indicated on Tuesday on the website of the brand owned by the Bordeaux businessman. Michel Ohayon, in the midst of financial turmoil.
“It’s been about a week since the online sales activity has been closed,” said AFP Brayan Brandao, CFDT union representative of the sign, which employs some 350 people.
The trade unionist also confirmed information from Capital that one of the brand’s Parisian stores, located on avenue des Ternes in 17e arrondissement of Paris, was to close by the end of March.
“The rent was due in early January, there was a reassessment by the owner who doubled it and Gap France decided to withdraw because the rent was becoming too high in relation to turnover” , explains Brayan Brandao.
Contacted Tuesday morning by AFP, the parent company of Gap France, Hermione People & Brands, was “not able to confirm or deny this information” immediately.
Michel Ohayon’s group in turmoil
Bordeaux businessman Michel Ohayon, who made his fortune in real estate before buying retail chains such as Camaïeu, Go Sport, Gap France as well as around twenty Galeries Lafayette stores outside Paris, is in turmoil since weeks.
Camaïeu was brutally liquidated in September, leaving some 2,600 employees on the floor, the Grenoble commercial court placed Go Sport in receivership, and the employees of Gap France exercised a right of economic alert.
Hermione Retail, the entity in which some twenty Galeries Lafayette stores in the regions controlled by Michel Ohayon are grouped, asked at the end of the previous week to be placed in the safeguard procedure, which is aimed at companies whose cash flow is no longer sufficient to settle their debts but who are not yet in default.
Even the Financière immobilière bordelaise (FIB), Michel Ohayon’s holding company with which he built his commercial and real estate empire, which includes several hotel palaces, including the Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux, has been placed in receivership.
“There is a lot of concern on the part of the collaborators”, commented to AFP Brayan Brandao, of Gap France, who recalls that the destiny of this sign is “linked to Go Sport”, the sports distributor having bought GapFrance. Potential buyers of Go Sport or Gap France have until March 10 to express their interest.
