First André, La Halle, then Orchestra-Prémaman, and now Naf Naf. Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, several clothing and footwear brands, which were already experiencing difficulties upstream, have now found their heads under water. Friday, the Bobigny Commercial Court (Seine-Saint-Denis) ordered the Naf Naf bankruptcy, two years after its acquisition by a consortium of investors led by the Chinese group La Chapelle, in Vivarte. This group has been engaged for several years in a disposal and restructuring plan, said a source close to the company this Saturday.
Two takeover offers
An audience will take place in early June to study the two takeover offers presented for Naf Naf, which employs 1,170 people and has 160 stores and 74 affiliated stores. The first comes from the Turkish group Sy International and provides for the retention of 923 employees, 118 stores and all of the affiliated stores. The source close to Naf Naf did not hide his preference for this offer which “would maintain almost all jobs and shops”.
The second offer, from the French group Beaumanoir (notably owner of the Morgan brand), plans to keep only 263 employees, 42 stores and 28 affiliates. Beaumanoir confirmed in a press release leading discussions with Naf Naf, with the ambition of “consolidating its place as French leader on the accessible fashion market”. “The official procedure having just opened, the group will greatly improve its offer in the next few days and reserves the right to do it again until the end of the current procedure,” he said. .
“The hardest part is ahead of us”
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire had warned from the start of the coronavirus crisis on the risk of “a multiplication of bankruptcies”. “The hardest part is ahead of us,” he warned again in late April. Faced with this situation, the government has announced an arsenal of measures to support businesses, including short-time working.
According to the firm Altares, the crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic has not yet resulted in an increase in business failures since the containment, but the pace could accelerate from June. Procedures for companies in default of payments have been improved, with in particular the possibility of postponement until the end of June or even the end of August. Aid is however insufficient for certain already weakened groups, whose stores deemed non-essential were closed as soon as containment began on March 17.
La Halle, under safeguard procedure
Another brand having also been sold by Vivarte, that more than a hundred years of André shoe stores, had been the first French company victim of the coronavirus: it was brought into receivership in early April after having to close all its stores and lost nearly 4 million euros in two weeks. The brand, bought eighteen months ago by the online sales site Spartoo, had generated in 2019 a turnover of 100 million euros but suffered 10 million losses. It has some 600 employees.
Like Naf Naf, André entered the crisis in a delicate situation. “We suffered the Yellow Vests”, with traffic down from 20% to 25%, “then, in the middle of the sales period in January, the strikes linked to the pension reform”, and now the Covid-19 pandemic , said Spartoo CEO Boris Saragaglia.
La Halle, a brand active in both clothing and footwear, which employs more than 6,000 people in France and remains the property of Vivarte, has been in the safeguarding procedure since April 21. Resumption candidates have until May 25 to submit their recovery plans. The group of children’s clothes and childcare articles Orchestra-Prémaman, which was under safeguard procedure since September 2019 and has 2,900 employees, obtained a conversion in late April proceedings.
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