Camaïeu, insolvent, placed under receivership

The north brand declared itself in “payment suspension” last week. Camaïeu was placed under receivership by the Lille Commercial Court on Monday, almost two years after it was taken over by Financière immobilière bordelaise.

“We take note of the decision of the court, which pronounces the opening of a judicial reorganization procedure at the request of Camaieu,” announced the management, specifying that “from now on we will work on the continuation plan”, the objective of the brand, which employs 2571 people, “to preserve the activity of the company and the Camaieu brand”.

“This decision aims to allow Camaieu, a historic French textile brand, to have an observation period and then present a continuation plan to continue the transformation initiated by the group, thus ensuring the future viability of the company,” Hermione said in a press release from the group and People Brands (HPB), the sales department of FIB of Bordeaux businessman Michel Ohayon.

The brand, which has 538 stores in France, had requested the opening of this procedure last Monday, declaring that it would stop paying, burdened in particular by unpaid rents.

This request was made “after a period of several months marked by a number of exogenous difficulties,” HPB said.

The social partners fear “social damage”

“Already very fragile at the time of its recovery” in 2020 “Camaieu has faced a wave of large and unprecedented successive crises due to the COVID crisis, repeated lockdowns (…) and the disorganization of global transport”, according to the press release.

HPB also speaks of a “cyber attack of exceptional magnitude and the consequences of the war in Ukraine and the increase in commodity prices”.

“Camaieu, already largely weakened by this succession of unprecedented facts, has had to face the judgment of the Court of Cassation since June 30, which denies merchants the right to request a reduction in their rents for the Covid period,” adds HPB.

“Even if the court confirms a continuity plan, we know very well that there will be a restructuring of the workforce, that is, a social plan, that is, social damage,” Thierry Siwik, Camaïeu’s CGT delegate, reacted for AFP. “To minimize this social damage, we will set up an action with the CGT HPB,” he added.