The Minelli shoe brand taken over, but a majority of jobs eliminated

The company was placed in receivership in September.

The Minelli shoe brand avoided judicial liquidation and was sold to a new group, according to a decision by the Marseille commercial court, consulted by AFP, Tuesday January 9. The new entity, called Maison Minelli, is made up of three buyers: the luxury brand Mes Demoiselles Paris and investors DS Invest and Union Brothers.

Of the approximately 600 employees employed by the group at the end of 2023, only 213 will be taken on permanent contracts. And only 47 stores (39 stores and 8 corners in shopping centers) out of the 120 will be retained.

“It’s a bloodletting at a social level which is hard to live with, but it was almost obligatory when we see the scope of the brand and the crisis the sector is going through”explained to AFP Christian Macquaire, union delegate and vice-president of the national shoe union of the CFE-CGC union. “Minelli is doing quite well and we will be able to get off to a good start”he assured, emphasizing that “ready-to-wear is very affected, with many actors”.

Minelli, which was taken over at the start of 2022 by the San Marina brand, itself now liquidated, was placed in receivership in September. “This takeover should allow Minelli to maintain its place in the world of know-how and high-end fashion”, the brand welcomed on Tuesday. Created in 1973, the shoe brand intended mainly for women thus escapes the fate of other ready-to-wear brands, a sector shaken for several months by a violent crisis.

Another offer was accepted by the court. It plans to sell the Minelli store in downtown Montpellier, with three employees, to Modessa France. The store will be operated under the Sometimes brand.