There were a lot of people in the Camaïeu de France shops this Saturday. The 514 stores scattered across France recorded record sales for their last day. Beyond good deals, a way for loyal customers to say “farewell” to this historic ready-to-wear brand, created in 1984, and to support the 2,600 laid-off employees.
In Poitiers, there was more than 40 minutes of queue did not discourage Emmanuelle: “I hope that my latest purchases will help pay salaries and expenses“, she whispers to France Bleu Poitou. The proceeds of sales in recent days must participate in training and retraining employees provided for in the social plan.
Sadness, worry and anger
Customers are all appalled by the news : “I find it really very sad for the employees. It’s ugly what’s happening to them.” laments a client from Châteauroux on France Bleu Berry. Everyone has a little word of encouragement for employees : “I hope you will find something quickly”, “we wish you a lot of courage“. In Guéret too, if we are sorry to see a shop close in an already too quiet city center, Nicole, interviewed by France Bleu Creuse, thinks above all of the employees: “The poor, I wish them to find work, but it will not be easy.” “It’s moving because it’s a page that turns”, testifies Virginie on France Bleu Périgord.
France Bleu Bourgogne, for its part, gave the speech to the saleswomen de Chenôve, still in shock: “It’s like mourning. I feel like I’m losing a member of my family. It’s like a funeral” testifies Fernande Nogueira. “I remember when I heard the news. I was here in the store. My colleague called me and we both cried.” “I find it hard to realize that Camaïeu can disappear“, also testifies Mariam, manager of the Nancy store. The young woman struggling to hold back tears in front of these customers who for days have been bringing messages of support: “We have people who come to give leads for future jobs”she is moved.
We saw customers crying, and yet they are customers
It must be said that concern wins them over. What future awaits them? “I haven’t even slept for a week”breathes Cathy, saleswoman at Camaïeu for 23 years in Moselle. I have two children, one of whom is young, I have been selling for twenty years”, she worries. “We saw customers crying, and yet they are customers, not members of our family”, says Cathy again. On France Bleu Occitanie, Aurélie is also worried about her future: “We don’t know what the sequel will look like.”
In the midst of sadness and worry, there is also anger. “I think it’s been mishandled for two years and our last buyout, says Harmony Guillemard.Despite everything, I believed in it until the end. But in the end, it’s more than 2,500 people on the floor, and thousands of families in precariousness. In Limoges too, the news did not pass. “I find it unfair” reacts to France Bleu Limousin Sandra, who had been on a permanent contract for a year and a half. In tears, the saleswoman collapses in the arms of a colleague, distressed to see “a beautiful story that ends.”
Maïwenn, sales assistant for five years at Camaïeu in Laval, also feel relief. “Over the last month, it was complicated so there is a relief somewhere” she describes on France Bleu Mayenne. “We waited until the last moment to find out. We were fed up, we didn’t know if we were going to have to continue or not, also testifies his colleague Sarah. At the beginning of the week, we didn’t know if, next week, we would be at work or not.“