The Japanese group Fast Retailing plans to close 40% of the Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam stores, two very popular French brands it has owned since 2005.
2023, a black year for fashion in France. After the judicial liquidations of Cop.Copine and San Marinathen the receivership of Go Sport, Kookai and Kaporalit’s the turn of Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam to face difficulties. The two brands, bought in 2005 by the Japanese group fast-retailing (Uniqlo, J Brand, Theory, Helmut Lang…) are planning to close part of their stores by August 2024. In all, these would be 28 Comptoir des Cotonniers stores out of the 67 scattered throughout France and 27 of the 69 Princesse tam.tam stores affected by this measure. The addresses that are not affected by this plan are those located in medium or large cities, “with a strong commercial dynamic and capable of generating good traffic“, indicated to the Journal des Femmes the agency in charge of press relations for the company.
In parallel, corners Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam will be open within 25 Uniqlo stores French brands, as has already been the case in the Parisian flagship on rue de Rivoli since 2021. Stores bringing together the universe of the two French brands should also be tested in the future, like the one inaugurated in Forum des Halles in April 2023.
Other bad news announced by Fast Retailing, which spoke to employee representative bodies on May 23, 2023: the closures would be accompanied by the removal of 101 positions out of 272 permanent contracts within Comptoir des Cotonniers and 84 out of 235 at Princesse tam.tam, while 119 jobs at the Fast Retailing France headquarters would disappear. However, the group would like to point out that “the plan currently concerns positions and not people” and affirms his wish to “support employees whose departure could not be avoided” through redeployment leave, training, business start-up assistance, etc.
Why these closures?
Like many brands in the clothing sector, Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam suffered from after Covid. The reason ? In addition to the ills that were already plaguing the clothing industry, the increasing digitization of consumption and the increase in production costs jeopardize the economic model of these well-established labels. Added to this, since the start of the war in Ukraine in March 2022, substantial inflation (+5.1% over one year, according to INSEE figures from May 2023), which makes French people revise their purchasing priorities. It is in this context that Fast Retailing has decided to change its distribution strategy and reorganize its network of points of sale to “fit [le groupe] changes in the clothing market and stem the serious difficulties encountered by the company and its subsidiaries in order to ensure their sustainability“. For Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam, who had already known a first social plan in 2021 resulting in the loss of 217 positions and the closure of 74 points of sale, the next challenge will be toincrease their presence on the digital channel. The goal: optimize e-shops of the two brands to make theunique customer experience. Let’s hope for these labels, to which French women are very attached (who hasn’t had a colored Princesse tam.tam headband or an elegant Comptoir des Cotonniers trench coat?), thatthey get there quickly !