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 French retail chain Galerie Lafayette is to cut about 200 jobs in France.
The company has announced to shut down two stores in Thiais (Val-de-Marne) and Béziers (Hérault) by the end of 2015 and to reduce the size of a third store in Lille. The closure of the two stores will result in 177 redundancies and further 30 positions are at risk in Lille.
On 31 March, the management announced to its central works councils the closure of the two stores: Thiais that employs 127 workers (and 80 brand employee not directly employed by Galerie Lafayette) and Béziers with 50 employees (and from 30 to 40 brand employees). The retailer is also negotiating the downsizing of its store in Lille that could lead, according Nord Eclair, to 30 job cuts out of a total of 151 employees.
The management has announced replacement measures to avoid forced dismissals, which is a viable scenario for the store in Thiais, in the Parisian region (the group has several stores in this area and expect to open a new store on the Champs Elyséee in Paris) but less of a possibility for the stores in Béziers (according unions the nearest store is one hour away by car from Béziers) and Lille. Unions are demanding a “zero dismissal” reorganisation with internal mobility for the employees but also for brand employees.
Eurofound (2015), Galeries Lafayette, Closure in France, factsheet number 83474, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/83474.