Two of the Casino hypermarkets in Montpellier sold to Auchan and Intermarché

The Casino brand will almost disappear from the Montpellier landscape this spring. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

A central works council of the large distribution chain took place this afternoon confirming the sale of 288 supermarkets and hypermarkets. Auchan will take over from the Géant de Celleneuve while that of the Très-d'Arènes will fall into the fold of Intermarché. The fate of Odysseum, however, is not sealed.

A central corporate social and economic committee of the Casino mass distribution chain took place this Wednesday afternoon in Saint-Etienne. This meeting was an opportunity for group managers to clarify the terms of sale of their supermarkets and hypermarkets to Auchan and Mousquetaires-Intermarché. A total of 288 locations are affected by this vast resale operation valued at nearly 1.3 billion euros.

The Odysseum case is not resolved

The fate of the stores located in Montpellier was therefore sealed during this meeting: the "Géant" de Celleneuve (136 employees) becomes part of the Auchan group, one of the two buyers. The historic brand of Prés d'Arènes (125 employees), for its part, returns to the Les Mousquetaires-Intermarchés group. This is also the case for the supermarkets on Avenue de Toulouse and Route de Ganges, while that of Grabels comes under the Auchan brand. The future of the Casino d' #39;Odysseum (approximately 100 employees), however, has not been decided like that of 22 other locations elsewhere in the territory, which arouses the concern of the staff who remain, for the ;#39;moment in the Saint-Etienne group. "We knew that for Odysseum it was going to be complicated. What's the problem is the rent. note Laurent Cherry, elected CFDT of the Celleneuve hypermarket and union representative on the central committee. 

Fast transfers

According to the schedule presented to staff representatives, the transfers could be carried out very quickly, in three very close phases, on April 30, May 31 and July 1 "after the consultation of the staff representative bodies concerned" specified the Stéphanois group. "We are surprised it's very short for the teams" adds Laurent Cherry.

To respond to the fears that had been expressed last June, the buyers undertook to take over the employment contracts of the employees and to maintain the specific advantages but for a period of 15 months, the legal minimum. In a statement to AFP, the national secretary of CFDT services, Sylvain Macé, urged the employees affected by these transfers to negotiate agreements substitution" in their sites. A new information meeting of elected staff members is scheduled for next week.

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