It’s a start to the year marked by uncertainty for the Minelli brand, which specializes in the sale of shoes. Placed in receivership on September 28 by the Marseille court, the company will find out this Monday whether a buyer is ready to continue its activity. With this decision, Minelli’s management hoped for a “breath of financial oxygen” and will now be determined on its fate. In total, 166 stores are affected in France.
This legal recovery comes less than a year after the takeover of Minelli by the managers of San Marina, at the start of 2022. But it only took a few months for the group to be liquidated last February, leaving 650 employees in the lurch. The company then expressed its regret “that no serious takeover project could be supported and that the managers were unable to bring their reserve project to fruition, due to lack of investors”.
Minelli, created in 1973, is far from the only company to find itself in the hot seat. Like her, other ready-to-wear and shoe brands launched before the 2000s found themselves in difficulty, such as Camaïeu, Burton of London, Gap France, André, Don’t Call me Jennyfer, Du Pareil au Meilleur , Sergeant Major or Naf Naf. The cause is the setbacks linked to the pandemic, followed by inflation, increases in the costs of energy, raw materials, rents and increased competition with fast fashion. Other brands are trying to keep their heads above water and are closing some stores to reduce their costs, such as Princesse Tam Tam, Comptoir des Cotonniers or Pimkie.
