Michel Ohayon stores on reprieve: why the situation of Galeries Lafayette in the Occitanie region is different

The Galeries Lafayette store in Béziers, taken over in 2015 by the Montpellier group Socri Limited. Called to close its doors, it has since been relaunched by its operator. Midi Libre – CYRIL CALCINA

The Bordeaux commercial court rules this Wednesday March 20 on the fate of the 26 stores of the prestigious brand owned by Michel Ohayon. Those located in the former Languedoc Roussillon are not affected. Better: their situation does not suffer from any flaws.

It is this Wednesday, February 20, that the Bordeaux commercial court must rule on the plan to continue the activity of 26 stores under the Galeries Lafayette brand, owned by Bordeaux businessman Michel Ohayon. A month ago, the Galeries Lafayette group had, to everyone's surprise, agreed to abandon 70% of their debts to the latter.

The situation of the 26 stores owned by Michel Ohayon should not mask the much healthier situation of the stores located in the former Languedoc Roussillon, in Montpellier, Béziers and Perpignan. "The Galeries Lafayette brand works rather well, insists Pierre-Antoine Desplan, general manager of Socri Limited, which manages the stores in Béziers and Avignon. The problems encountered by certain stores are not commercial but financial. They are facing cash flow difficulties.

"The group has chosen to sell the small structures"

In 2015, the Montpellier group Socri Limited took over the Béziers store, in difficulty and destined to be closed by the Galeries Lafayette group. "At the time, the national group owned all the stores in France, with the exception of Perpignan , analyzes an expert in the sector. He chose to sell small structures, like that of Béziers, to keep only the big ones, like the Montpellier store, located at Polygone".

This is when the organization, backed by this new strategy, is put in place. Building on its experience in Béziers, whose performances have been improved, Socri Limited took over, two years ago, from the Galeries Lafayette group, the Avignon store, a "store mature, which was not in difficulty, like that of Béziers. Today, the latter displays a turnover of 6.5% million euros excluding taxes and that of Avignon of 20 million, also excluding taxes. As for the one in Montpellier, still operated by the Galeries Lafayette group, it generates, according to estimates, around 35 million.

"The brand provides a fashion brand image"

It was in 1997 that the Barès family signed an affiliation contract with Galeries Lafayette in Perpignan. The family business was founded in 1897. Germain and Henriette Claverie launched the first department store that year, called Grand Bazar. In 1922, it became Nouvelles Galeries, before moving under the Galeries Lafayette brand.

"What makes our partnership strong is that, like the owners of Galeries Lafayette, we are a family business whose destiny is linked to the concept of department stores", insists Marc Barès, president of the Catalan group. Today, the Perpignan store achieves a turnover of 16 million excluding taxes. "Unquestionably, the brand has provided a very strong fashion brand image. The directions taken by the national group have provided confidence in what the development strategy should be".

For Socri Limited, familiarize yourself with the business environment

Whether in Béziers, Perpignan or Avignon, the brand relies on solid regional groups. Socri Limited, specialized in commercial real estate development, saw in the Galeries Lafayette " opportunity an opportunity to better understand the retail sector, which constitutes our traditional clientele, by being us -same operators", as specified by Pierre-Antoine Desplan.

Based on the long family history of 126 years, Marc Barès estimates that Galeries Lafayette is "today’ teaches us that we need . "It is still one of the ten favorite brands of the French", recalls the general director of Socri Limited.

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