why is the brand placed in receivership?

The chain specializing in home furnishings and equipment is facing major financial difficulties, but is not going out of business.

The decision taken by the Bobigny court does not sign the death warrant for Habitat. This is the aim of the legal recovery procedure which makes it possible to continue the activity while maintaining jobs, even if the company finds itself in cessation of payments and no longer has money to pay its debts. It is filing for bankruptcy, but the worst can still be avoided.

By placing the company in receivership, the court opens what is called a “observation period”. In the case of Habitat, that’s until the end of January. Legal agents and administrators must be appointed today to support the company and find the best solutions. During this period, they will liaise with the court and decide whether it is necessary to find one or more buyers, before possibly having to liquidate the company altogether.

Management errors and inflation

Current management says the company is suffering from past management errors, coupled with declining store traffic, inflation, soaring prices for energy and raw materials to make furniture and other items. The objective is to pay all suppliers, especially to ensure deliveries of orders placed by customers. For the moment, the delivery chain is not broken.

Habitat is a brand that presents itself as high-end compared to certain competitors like Ikea and therefore a little more expensive. It continues to be important in layout and decoration. Founded in 1964, the chain of 25 stores now employs 450 people. In 2022, it achieved a turnover of 80 million euros. The brand was bought in 2011 by the French Cafom (French purchasing center for overseas territories), then managed by a former LVMH employee. It was subsequently taken over, in 2020, by businessman Thierry Le Guénic, former general director of the fashion designer Smalto. We will therefore have to wait until January to know the fate reserved for Habitat.