the shoe brand San Marina, formerly owned by the Vivarte group which had requested, on Tuesday, its placement in judicial administration by the Commercial Court of Marseilles, obtained satisfaction, on Thursday, September 22. San Marina employs 680 people in 163 stores in France.
The request had been examined on Thursday morning behind closed doors by the Marseille Commercial Court, based in Gémenos, in Bouches-du-Rhône. The judicial administration of the company is pronounced until March 22, 2023, France 3 Provence announced, information confirmed to Agence France-Presse by the company’s lawyer, Mr.me Bernard Ramo.
The commercial court could not be contacted in the afternoon to confirm this information, one of the representatives of the CSE indicated for his part that he was not aware of the decision pronounced.
“Non-essential” merchants forced to pay their rents
San Marina said this Tuesday that it was suffering from the backlash of the Court of Cassation ruling that forced, in June, the so-called non-essential merchants, and who had had to keep their doors closed during the spring 2020 confinement, to pay their rents.
The company, which had been sold at the beginning of 2020 by Vivarte to Stéphane Collaert, had already announced in the spring of 2022 a job protection plan (PSE) “about 152 of 680 publications” Y “the adequacy of its store network”. At the time of entering into negotiations with Vivarte, there was talk of 230 stores, the brand claimed 163 on Tuesday.
The management, which informed the Economic and Social Committee (CSE) of the signing this Tuesday of this intervention request, specifies that the PSE must be “temporarily suspended” during the observation period after receivership.
In early August, another French ready-to-wear brand, Camaïeu, had filed for receivership, citing ” the consequences “ of the judgment of the Court of Cassation.
The textile distribution sector, especially mid-range, is in pain for years in France. Activity remains difficult this year in the context of concerns about purchasing power, which pushes many consumers to postpone their clothing purchases, considered less of a priority than food or children’s equipment, for example.