The group which owns these two children’s brands, founded more than 35 years ago, has just been placed in receivership. Hundreds of stores in France could be threatened. Decryption.
After the women’s ready-to-wear and beauty sector, it is the turn of children’s fashion to experience certain economic difficulties. If you buy children’s clothing, you have most certainly already entered one day into one of the stores of these two French brands, now in turmoil. For more than 35 years, these brands have established themselves in the world of children’s ready-to-wear in France. One was created in 1986, and the second a year later, in 1987. If they have succeeded in seducing parents and their dear little ones over all these years, it is above all thanks to their comfortable, accessible and tendency. Together, they have more than 800 points of sale in France and abroad. We are talking about the brands Sergent Major and Du Pareil Au Meilleur (DPAM).
On March 14, the Générale pour l’Enfant (GPE) group, owner of these brands as well as Natalys, was placed in receivership by the Bobigny commercial court, after declaring itself insolvent. The economic difficulties experienced by the parent company are not new. Last year, in June 2023, its Du Pareil Au Meilleur brand was placed in receivership, followed a few months later by Sergent Major, already in safeguard proceedings.
The reasons for this situation are multiple. At the time, in a press release, the group pointed out “social crises, the Covid-19 pandemic, the energy crisis and inflation” which had impacted them significantly. Without forgetting “the explosion of costs” raw materials and electricity. As a result, the company lost 100 million euros in turnover during the pandemic.
To redress the situation, the parent company had planned a “closure or sale of 47 Sergent Major stores and 87 at Du Pareil Au Meilleur”, all in France, according to a source who spoke to AFP. Some stores have since closed their doors. In this restructuring plan, the group also planned to expand internationally into new markets, and above all to develop its digital strategy, with a goal: to achieve 25% of sales online by 2027. Unfortunately, their efforts do not seem to have paid off.
But is this the end of Sergent Major and Du Pareil Au Same? The future of these brands is now in the hands of justice. Because during a judicial recovery procedure, an observation period of several months is set up by a judge, to carry out, among other things, a diagnosis of the company and a recovery plan. At the end, the court decides and pronounces either a legal recovery plan or the judicial liquidation of the group, in this case General for the Child.