Place Saint-Michel, in Paris, four bookstores bearing the Gibert Jeune stamp will close. Only two others, at number 27 and 23 on Quai Saint-Michel, will remain open. The store at number 27 will continue to sell books, because it benefited from a pre-emption, then a purchase, on December 8, 2020, from the City of Paris, through the semi-public company Semaest.
Olivia Polski, deputy mayor in charge of trade, crafts, liberal professions and crafts and fashion, confirms to the World : “Our goal is to maintain a cultural trade, and we want to keep a Gibert bookstore there. “ She specifies that “The City of Paris has, since 2007, supported 45 bookstores thanks to Semaest”. Negotiations to also preempt that of number 23 have stumbled, since it is not for sale.
In 1929, the group was split between Gibert Jeune and Gibert Joseph by two brothers concerned about independence. In 2017, the second took over the first, then in receivership. To better absorb it. A job protection plan (PSE) was formalized on December 4, 2020, and covers 80 layoffs. Thanks to the pre-emption of the town hall, nine would be kept at 27, quai Saint-Michel, reducing the job cuts to 71.
Fate uncertain
Of a high average age, these employees will struggle to find a job. Negotiations with the unions, before the staff consultation during the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) of February 22, concern redeployment, support, training and severance pay measures, which would seem rather advantageous. If the management refuses to comment, it seems that it hopes to complete the operation at the end of March. While Gibert’s staff announced in spring 2020 its intention to redeploy smaller structures employing three or four booksellers in Paris and in the inner suburbs, this strategy remains in the embryonic state. “What is concrete are the closures! “, quips an employee.
The fate of Gibert Jeune located boulevard Saint-Denis, in Paris, not included in the PSE, seems uncertain. Renny Aupetit, co-founder of the Librest network – which brings together thirteen bookstores in Greater Paris -, had proposed, in December 2019, to renovate it and transform it into a cooperative. His project, valued at 2.5 million euros – including 1.5 million euros intended for the renovation of this place of 600 m2 on four floors – had been well received by the 20 employees.
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