Safeguard plan approved by the Bordeaux Commercial Court

26 stores bought by Michelle Ohio are affected. They employ around 1,000 people. “A mixed relief”, according to CFDT which fears brand defection.

The Bordeaux commercial court on Thursday March 21 recognized the safety plan for Bordeaux businessman Michel Ohayon’s 26 Galeries Lafayette stores, reports France Bleu Gironde.

Between 2018 and 2021 the stores were purchased by Hermione Retails from the Galeries Lafayette group. Proposed by Michel Ohayon himself, the agreement provides that the main creditor of Hermione Retails, the Lafayette group, forgives 70% of the debt accumulated by the entrepreneur after the repurchase of 26 stores in 2018, or about 50 million euros. France Culture suggests that the merchant undertakes to pay the remaining 30% over 10 years, modernize stores and integrate new brands to improve turnover.

The 26 stores concerned employ around 1,000 employees in Agen, Amiens, Angoulême, Bayonne, Beauvais, Belfort, Besançon, Caen, Cannes, Chalon-sur-Saône, Chambéry, Dax, La Roche-sur-Yon, La Rochelle, Saintes, Libourne. is , Lorient, Montauban, Niort, Rouen, Tarbes and Toulon, as well as Tours, Pau, Rosny-sous-Bois and Coquelles near Calais.

Employees are still worried

In early March, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened an organized gang fraud investigation against Michel Ohayon. Justice questions the business leader’s practices while he was at the helm of Gap, Go Sport and Cameo, brands that have since been liquidated.

Contacted by France Bleu Gironde, Muriel Schancy, CFDT central representative, is concerned about the future of the Galeries Lafayette brands in the provinces: “It’s a matter of scrutiny, what are the brands going to do? Are they going to stay in our stores? The green light from the Commercial Court is a mixed relief because we’re keeping our jobs but we’re always going to be concerned about the sustainability of that. Our business.”