Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse Tam Tam plan to cut 304 jobs and close 55 stores in France

2023-06-06 03:53:40

Two new victims of the crisis that the ready-to-wear industry is going through? The Fast Retailing France group, a subsidiary of the Japanese giant of the same name, announced on Monday that it is planning to close 55 stores of the Comptoir des Cotonniers women’s clothing and Princesse Tam Tam lingerie brands out of 136 in France and cut 304 jobs.

“The situation today is such that it no longer allows Fast Retailing France to continue without risking compromising its future and that of its brands. Especially since no prospect of a real recovery is envisaged, ”said the group. Both brands are owned by this entity of the Japanese textile giant whose flagship brand is Uniqlo. Concerning Comptoir des Cotonniers, the project provides for the closure of 28 points of sale out of the 67 currently operated in France, and the elimination of 101 positions out of 272 permanent contracts. For Princesse Tam Tam, the closure of 27 points of sale out of 69 is planned, as well as the elimination of 84 positions out of 235 permanent contracts.

To this is added the elimination of 119 positions within Fast Retailing France “in order to adapt the workforce to the reorganization of the distribution network but also to reduce its oversizing”. “The objective is to close the closures (of shops) by August 2024, but the support for employees will be done over a longer period”, specified the group.

Negotiations concerning this reorganization plan “are underway”, and “the objective is to limit its impact on employees and dismissals as much as possible” via “a very comprehensive social support system which would include in particular proposals for reclassification in within the group and a voluntary departure plan”, according to the group. “To support employees whose departure could not be avoided, appropriate support measures for external redeployment should also be put in place (training, assistance with business creation, redeployment leave, etc.), he said. it detailed.

Corners of the two brands in Uniqlo stores

The announcement of this “project to overhaul the distribution strategy” and “reorganize the network of points of sale” was made on May 23 to the representative bodies of the staff of the two brands, the group indicated, confirming information from the FashionNetwork specialized site. The objective of the plan is to “continue to adapt Fast Retailing France to changes in the clothing market and to stem the serious difficulties encountered by the company and its subsidiaries in order to ensure their sustainability”, according to the group.

Fans of Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse Tam Tam will still be able to find items from the two brands in Uniqlo stores, the group’s brand which “benefits from strong appeal”. Fast Retailing France plans to set up “corners” offering items from these two brands, and announces “in the near future, in major cities, a new concept of stores combining” the offer of the two brands. The project also aims to “accelerate” online sales.

The ready-to-wear sector in France has been shaken for several months by a violent crisis, which resulted in particular in the liquidation of Camaïeu in September 2022 and the placements in receivership at the beginning of this year of Go Sport (since largely taken over by Intersport) and Gap France (partially taken over by JD Sports). Kookai also announced the closure of 20 stores, while the shoemaker San Marina (650 employees) was placed in compulsory liquidation.