Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
The Damartex group has announced a restructuring that will lead to 195 job cuts, including 159 in France.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis and store closures, the decline in activity over March, April and May was 25%. Over the end of the year, turnover, which is currently more than €700 million, could fall from €50 to €60 million. Mail order and internet sales (15% of turnover comes from e-commerce) have not compensated for the loss of income due to the closure of stores. The group has therefore decided to cut 195 jobs and to discontinue three brands. Delaby (comfort accessories), Maison du jersey (textiles) and Jours Heureux (food products), which together account for €26 million in turnover and employ a total of around 50 people, will cease trading by 2021. In addition, the mailing of catalogues, which used to employ only 28 people, will be outsourced. Finally, activities such as product creation and marketing will be shared between Damart and Afibel.
In the region Haut-de-France, where Damartex employs 1,100 people, the group plans to cut 62 jobs in Roubaix, 30 in Hem (the logistics site) and 50 in Villeneuve-d'Ascq (Afibel). Not counting the closures of three stores, including the one in Boulogne-sur-Mer. In total, 159 jobs were lost in France (eventually compensated by 25 new jobs) and 36 in Belgium, the UK and Germany. Damartex employs 3,300 people in total.
Eurofound (2020), Damartex, Closure in France, factsheet number 100906, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/100906.