Camaieu, in “cessation of payment”, requests its suspension of payments

L’enseigne nordiste Camaieu s’est déclarée lundi en “cessation de paiement” et a demandé son placement en redressement judiciaire, près de deux ans après sa reprise por la Financière immobilière bordelaise, at-on appris auprès de la direction et du Tribunal de Trade.

The women’s prêt-à-porter giant “has requested the opening of a judicial administration procedure with a continuation plan at the Lille Commercial Court”, and its situation will be examined during a hearing on Monday afternoon, it said. Camaieu’s address in a message to AFP.

“Camaieu’s request is motivated by an acceleration of the company’s difficulties and more particularly by the consequences” of a ruling by the Court of Cassation, dated June 30, “denying merchants to lower rents during the covid period “explained the address.

Acceleration of difficulties

“The main objective of Camaieu’s request is to preserve the sustainability of the company,” he said.

Previously questioned by AFP, the president of the commercial court of Lille confirmed that he had received a declaration of “cessation of payment” by the managing company, Aciam (which belongs to the FIB) on Monday morning.

According to a source familiar with the matter, this request is made “before the difficulty of the times in terms of retail sales and the difficulty of taking possession of Camaieu” who is encountering “difficulties in paying donors” .

Resumed in 2020

At the end of June, the newspaper The world reported concerns from Camaieu unions that the company was no longer paying rent for almost half of the stores it operated in France.

“For months the CGT has been carrying out actions to denounce the strategy of the management and the shareholder on the option of not paying more to the landlords (several hundred procedures), the Cassation Chamber has failed, the companies will have to pay” , denounced on Monday the delegate of the CGT Thierry Siwik, in a message sent to the press.

By August 2020, the FIB had taken over 511 of France’s 634 stores and some 2,600 employees out of more than 3,100, launching a major transformation plan and “fundamental work on branding and supply”.

The new management then gave itself two years to restore the balance of the company, with the aim of recovering in 2023 the turnover of 2019: 570 million euros.