André is safe. In fact, the commercial Court of Grenoble has approved the only submitted bid. The bid has been launched by François Feijoo, former manager at André from 2005 till 2013. The entrepreneur has spent 7.8 million euros to buy out 55, out of 180 in total, André selling stores in France, plus 13 associated shops and 221 jobs. Redundancies, instead, will amount to 188 units. We are now waiting for prospective development plans.
André is safe
André is a 120-year-old French footwear brand. In the first months of 2018, Spartoo, an e-commerce retailer headquartered in Grenoble, bought it out from Vivarte group (whose name, until 2001, was right André). Two years later, even due to the pandemic, caused by Covid-19 outbreak, the company filed for receivership.
Last June, Spartoo announced they would not take over. At this point, the company was available for sale, but, despite its long-lasting history, only one bid was submitted, namely by Feijoo. After leading André, the manager played the role of Chief Executive Officer of competitor Eram, for seven years.
Such bid, the only one actually, has been enough to save the brand. As reported by Le journal de l’economie, Feijoo has bought out the footwear brand through 1Monde9 enterprise.
What is going to happen now?
The buyer is aware of the difficulties he will be going through. It will take him time and perseverance to achieve a trend inversion.
Meanwhile, one more issue might possibly arise. As reported by Le Parisienne, trade unions have allegedly threatened to sue the ex-owner of Spartoo “for unfair practice and liability for non-compliance with his duties and responsibilities”, undertaken by the entrepreneur during the employment safeguard plan.
Read also:
- CRV effect: Mulberry cuts over 450 employees, Marc Jacobs 60
- Who killed the US retail system? Not the virus, but Private Equity
