Chaussea, a group specializing in the sale of shoes, announced on Wednesday that it had bought the “brand” San Marina, a shoemaker liquidated last February, and wishes to make it “revive” with corners in its own stores, in 2024. San Marina had been placed in judicial liquidation with immediate cessation of activity on February 20 by the commercial court of Marseille, the city where the brand was created in 1981, judging that “no serious takeover project could be supported” and that ” the current leaders have not been able to bring their reserve offer project to fruition, for lack of an investor”. The brand had some 650 employees in around 160 stores.
On Wednesday, the Chaussea group told AFP that it had “bought the San Marina brand by a decision of the Marseille commercial court on May 10. The takeover only concerns intangible assets, namely the brand, the domain name and the registered models”, it is specified. Chaussea, which defines itself as the “leader in the distribution of footwear in France”, has nearly 500 points of sale and more than 4,000 employees. “San Marina has a very wide reputation with the general public. Through this acquisition, Chaussea aims to revive this brand as in the good old days of Michel Scotto”, its founder.
“Our priority objective is to offer the public quality fashion leather products. We plan to open specific San Marina corners in Chaussea stores in the spring of 2024,” said Gaetan Grieco, founding president of the Chaussea group. This brand, based in Meurthe-et-Moselle, had received the green light from the Competition Authority in 2021 to buy 128 of the approximately 500 La Halle stores, a clothing and shoe chain which had been placed in recovery the year former. Like other brands in the sector such as André, San Marina, with an estimated turnover of 79 million euros in 2022 but liabilities close to 56 million euros, had suffered in particular from social movements such as the yellow vests, the 2020 health crisis and its consequences, as well as competition from online sales combined with inflation.
