Habitat, in serious financial difficulty, will request judicial liquidation

ECONOMY – This is a new historic company in the French commercial landscape which risks disappearing. The judicial administrators of Habitat, in serious financial difficulty, will request the liquidation of the brand specializing in furniture and home equipment during a hearing scheduled for Wednesday at the Bobigny court.

Habitat, founded in 1964, was placed in receivership at the beginning of December. The administrators announced Friday in the CSE (social and economic committee) that they were going to request liquidation, management clarified this Monday, December 18, confirming information from the World and of Mediapart.

Habitat France had generated a turnover of 65 million euros in 2022 and recently employed a little more than 300 employees, according to the judgment opening legal recovery, rendered at the beginning of December.

The parent company, Habitat Design International, which employs 68 people and had a turnover of 51.8 million euros in 2022, was also placed in receivership at the beginning of December.

“Failing previous management”

According to The worldthe company’s cash flow collapsed the day after it was placed in receivership, the staff of the twenty-five stores having exercised their right of withdrawal and proceeded to close all of the points of sale operated directly in France, after multiple incidents with customers whose orders will not be honored.

Habitat explained at the beginning of December that it “faced profound financial difficulties, largely attributable to previous failing management and exacerbated by more recent factors: a significant drop in store traffic, an inflationary shock and the surge in the prices of energy, raw materials and transport, with a direct impact on the purchasing power of households, internal social movements having disrupted activity”.

The brand had also announced that it was preparing a recovery plan through continuation “so as to sustainably achieve profitability and honor its commitments”.

But according to the CSE, Habitat will not pay November salaries to employees and Thierry Le Guénic, owner of the brand, will “call on the AGS”wage guarantee schemes, which should “logically take over”was indicated in a memo sent to employees and consulted by AFP.

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