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Pimkie enters safeguard procedure
May 29, 2024
New turbulence for Pimkie. Sold in February 2023 by the Mulliez family to a consortium comprising Lee Cooper France, Ibisler Tekstil and entrepreneur Salih Halassi, the women's fashion chain has just been placed under a safeguard procedure by the Tourcoing Commercial Court, FashionNetwork.com has learned from corroborating sources. Management could not be contacted at the time of publication.
The safeguard procedure was approved on May 27. This procedure means that a company is not in suspension of payments, but is facing difficulties requiring reorganisation in order to continue trading. A safeguard plan can be put in place by the shareholder if the court approves it. The other possible outcome is the conversion of the procedure into a receivership.
Pimkie is currently in a restructuring phase. Having already decided last year to close 63 shops and cut 257 jobs, the company's management announced in January 2024 a further 36 shop closures and its intention to affiliate 14 outlets to the Chinese bazaar chain Miniso. This latest job protection plan (PSE) would involve the loss of nearly 240 jobs, including around 40 at head office.
Once the plan is implemented, Pimkie will be left with 191 shops. The chain, which was founded in 1971 and targets the 18-25 age group, said at the start of the year that it was suffering from the economic climate, falling footfall in its stores and inflation. Its sales reached 198 million euros in 2023, compared with 216 million a year earlier (-8.3%).
According to the CFDT, management has initiated this safeguard procedure in order to be helped in its process of renegotiating rents and logistics and energy contracts. "Management wants to reassure us, but we have a lot of questions and fear that Pimkie's suppliers and partners will lose confidence," fears the CFDT delegate. Faced with these concerns, all the trade unions involved launched an economic alert a few weeks ago.
Elodie Chelle, the company's deputy general manager since autumn 2023, told FashionNetwork.com in January that she wanted to develop a new shop concept and consider diversifying the product range with a view to reviving Pimkie, which is under attack from competition from e-tailers such as Shein and low-cost chains such as Primark.
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