The coronavirus crisis got the better of one sign: André. Boris Saragaglia, CEO of Spartoo, which has owned the footwear subsidiary since 2018, insures it. “It was the closing of stores on March 16 in France that accelerated our fall”, explained the co-founder, during a press point, a few minutes after having informed his 600 employees of the validation of the placement of the company in receivership by the Grenoble Commercial Court, Wednesday 1er April. “Without the coronavirus crisis, it would have happened otherwise”, confirms an employee on condition of anonymity.
Founded at the end of the XIXe century in Paris by an Alsatian manufacturer of cheap shoes, the brand had been vacillating for years. It was first affected by the fashion of sneakers which diverted its customers towards the shops of sneakers and the sites of online sale of sports shoes. Consequently, in 2017, Vivarte, its parent company, sought to part with this loss-making chain as quickly as possible. An agreement was finally reached with Spartoo in early 2018. Its net losses then amounted to 20 million euros, notes Mr. Saragaglia. They reached 10 million euros last year, for a turnover of around 100 million euros. “Spartoo had been forced to inject 13 million euros into his current account last year”, also ensures the CEO.
And, obviously, the shareholders of Spartoo – its founders up to 25% and investment funds (À Plus Finance, CM-CIC Capital Privé, Highland Capital Partners, Endeavor Vision and Sofina) up to 75% – n ‘ did not wish to reinvest in André. After the movement of the “yellow vests” of 2018 and the strike of public transport in December which weighed down its activity, they were frozen by new headwinds. The closure of the brand’s 150 points of sale on March 16, following the adoption of containment measures in France, resulted in the loss of 250,000 euros in turnover per day.
“4 million euros lost per month”
For how long ? While the containment measures have been extended until April 15, the company is sailing by sight, with no certainty that it will be able to reopen soon. “4 million euros lost per month is not sustainable”, says Saragaglia. The payment deadlines for shoes ordered in Italy, Spain and Portugal for an amount of 10 million euros expected in March and April also pushed the CEO to “Get some air”. The latter said he had requested a loan from the Public Investment Bank (BPI) in order to settle his cash flow problems. In vain. The state bank “Did not follow up on my file”, he specifies, without “even” having obtained the “Reasons”. On March 23, the company said it was in default. The opening of this procedure ensures payment of the wages of André employees from March 31 by the AGS, wage guarantee scheme.
The co-founder of Spartoo had bought André to provide Spartoo with a network of stores. In 2017, the entrepreneur also bought GBB, a brand of children’s shoes, previously owned by Kindy. And, Spartoo also took over Easy Peasy, a small brand of slippers, when it went into compulsory liquidation in late 2019.
Launched eighteen months ago, the strategy consisted of setting up a mixed sales network, present on the Internet, with an offer of 400,000 models for the whole family, and shops in shopping centers and the best downtown locations. André is particularly active in Paris.
Spartoo now makes half of its 250 million euros in sales through its stores. Mr. Saragaglia swears that his “Industrial project” remains relevant. The 38-year-old entrepreneur, who had launched into online sales, after leaving HEC, after the Mines, claims to be working on a ” Plan B “ for “Combine energies” and boost André’s sales. Even if it means operating with a “Drastically lower number of stores”. The CEO does not intend to specify his plan to continue business, while the observation period of the company opens in this “Ubiquitous context”. Since mid-March, the André brand has had no turnover.
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