Camaieu's liquidation leaves employees in shock

"I hope you will be punished": when the commercial court of Lille announced the liquidation of Camaieu, its employees took Michel Ohayon, the Bordeaux businessman who had taken over the ready-to-wear chain and its 2,600 employees, to work.

"We fought for this company! I'm as appalled as you are", the businessman, who heads the Financière immobilière bordelaise (FIB) said, trying to defend himself. "You have the right to be acidic, I forgive you everything", he finally added in front of the angry employees, adding that he had invested 46 million euros in the company.

In a few words, the president of the court announced "the judicial liquidation" at the end of a quick deliberation and the consumer brand fell, nearly 40 years after its creation in 1984 in Roubaix, where it employs some 500 people. According to the management, the company was destroyed by covid-19 and a costly cyber attack. Perhaps also by bad choices. The court decided to maintain its activity until Saturday at 11pm. Then it will be over.

"2,600 people out on the street, what do we do? He's the one who's going to pay the rent, he's the one who's going to feed the families,” employee Cynthia shouted to journalists as they left the courtroom. Many employees were in tears. Many had worked for the company for years, even decades.

"In terms of employability, it's going to be a disaster," lamented the secretary of the CSE Nordine Misraoui of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), who has worked for Camaieu for 35 years.

"A tragedy”

"We work with a lot of service providers, so we have more than 5,000 employees," it will be a “drama” for families, FO delegate Chérif Legba indignantly said.

"We've got the heebie-jeebies, we're used to being active and now on Monday there'll be nothing left,” summed up Louisa, 57, who has been with Camieu for 29 years and, like many of her colleagues, refused to give her surname. On the development of the FIB, which has bought a series of stores (Go Sport, La Grande Récré, 23 Galeries Lafayette affiliated shops etc.), she said: "We thought it was good at the beginning, but we can't take care of all of them.”

"For many people, Camaieu was their first job. Me. I grew up in Camaieu,” explained Idir, 40 years old, 17 of which were spent at Camaieu, where he worked in deliveries.

"Since the takeover (in 2020), there has been a lot of stress and pressure on everything," said Vanessa, 39, who has worked for 16 years in a shop in Wattignies (North). She said she thinks that the buyers "messed up: the customers couldn't find their shops anymore".

"The company has been bled enough. This company has been pumped by successive shareholders,” she said, also accusing a project manager in the supply department. "We've been working for months in horrible conditions, suppliers were crying on the phone because they weren't paid anymore.”

The General Confederation of Labour, for its part, called for a general meeting on Tuesday morning at the headquarters for the Roubaix staff and employees of nearby shops, "in order to prepare legal action for the damage suffered by the employees". The shareholder had tried until the last minute to avoid this outcome, urging the government, with the help of the Hauts-de-France region, to release an advance of funds.

But "the takeover plan was very poorly informed, with a business plan that could fit on one page", said the minister for industry, Roland Lescure, after the announcement of the liquidation. "I regret that it has come to this," he said. (AFP)