The clothing brand announces the closure at the end of December of its emblematic boutiques on boulevard Haussmann and rue de Rivoli, in Paris. The Dutch group is gradually withdrawing into France.
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C&A is one of Europe’s leading fashion and ready-to-wear brands. Established in twenty countries of the Old Continent, it has some 1,400 stores and 23,000 employees. In France, C&A still has twenty stores, but over the past two years, the company has cut nearly 340 jobs there, to which will therefore be added those of the two Parisian stores. According to the unions, 145 jobs would potentially be affected. The employees concerned should be reclassified through training or undergo internal transfers in the region. The people concerned will find out about their fate on Tuesday June 7 during a meeting of the staff representative bodies.
For ten years, the management of C&A has encountered financial difficulties. Textile crisis, rising costs and rent for its stores, etc. Sector analysts also see it as the result of the growing difficulties of commerce in Paris, activity being penalized rue de Rivoli by traffic restrictions, not to mention the disappearance of tourists during the pandemic. But in general, France is a difficult market in this segment of clothes at low prices. Sales there have been falling in value since the beginning of the 2009 crisis. In this branch, C&A has to fight against brands like Primark, H&M and Kiabi.
The gradual decline in its physical activities (stores) reflects C&A’s desire to focus on sales via the Internet. There too the competition is strong but the costs are lower to stay afloat. This is the low cost strategy at all levels. Strong demand from online customers who want ever less expensive items, the only recruitments that C&A is considering today are in logistics, particularly for deliveries, at the national level.