In Rouen, “it’s a page that is turned”
It is the end of nearly 52 years of history for France Loisirs. The Paris commercial court ruled, the book sales sign, placed in compulsory liquidation on October 25, was bought by the company Financière Trésor du Patrimoine. But 469 of the 516 employees are made redundant, at the 122 France Loisirs book sales outlets, only 14 will be kept. The shops in Le Havre, Rouen, Dieppe and Evreux are closing. For that of Rouen, the closure is scheduled for Monday evening.
In the Rouen store, shelves are already empty, shelves are no longer stocked. It’s heartbreaking for Régine, a France Loisirs client since 1978, “I really liked catalogs, I’m in the teaching profession so it allows me to know what was coming out, new writers. I’m really sorry” . Anne was also a loyal clientele, “now I’m unhappy because I’m like ‘where am I going to go?’ it was warm, we could take our time to choose the books, we had very good advice, and a large choice “.
A model running out of steam?
The original principle of France Loisirs for members was to buy a book every quarter. Annie had a subscription since 1983, “it was not bad too, it’s not that it forced us to go look for a book, but it made us discover several universes, to have a different book every quarter “.
This formula was no longer compulsory, France Loisirs had become a classic bookstore, but it did not resist the new consumption patterns according to the manager of the Rouen store, Alexandra Leroy. “It’s an evolving society, evolving digital systems, there are e-readers. It’s a page that turns, and it is all the sadder to do so in this period which should be festive “.
In the Rouen store, six people find themselves unemployed. But the support of loyal customers we have met with heart balm, says Alexandra Leroy. “We feel loved, recognized, we know why we did this job, why we chose it, why we stayed so long for my colleagues. They are people whom they have known for so many years, whom they have seen grow up. It is regular that the saleswomen are called by their first name, that the customers bring them chocolates. This is also France Loisirs, it is this proximity to our customers, and it’s all the harder to say goodbye to them today. “
Already close to disappearance in 2018, France Loisirs, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020, does not more than 800,000 members, against two million in the 70s and 80s. Besides France, four other entities of the larger group in the north of France were concerned by the procedure. These are logistics and IT service providers, a call center and a printing plant, all of which are very dependent on France Loisirs. Of the 211 employees represented in total by these four companies, 91 will be kept by the transferee.