From our special correspondent in Saint-Etienne
On a sign that she brandishes with determination, the grimmed face of Jean-Charles Naouri, CEO of the Casino group. And this inscription “Casino in Saint-Etienne, the shopping cart of his worries”. Quite a symbol. On Sunday, more than 2,000 people took to the streets to protest against the announced death of the Saint-Etienne group. With the feeling of being left behind, abandoned to a sad fate without it causing any emotion beyond the Forezian borders. Here, Casino is the brand that has been the pride of the city for one hundred and twenty-five years. The one that is intertwined in all the city’s institutions, starting with its football club. So no one is willing to see it disappear.
“I was 19 when I was hired and I worked there for forty years,” says Joëlle, wrapped in her coat. If the time for retirement has already come for her, the sixty-year-old does not accept seeing the business of her heart disappear. Just like his friend Monique, 45 years of career within the group. “It hurts a lot, it’s still an emblem of Saint-Etienne and the region. It was a landmark for all the people of Stéphane,” she notes. “It wasn’t always easy but we held on, the company survived. And there was a very good atmosphere, we were considered in the Guichard days,” recalls Joëlle. “We never met him,” she continues, pointing to his sign, also regretting having seen over the years “customers leave” and “prices increase”.
“The identity of the territory”
“Casino is a big family. We are all united in sadness and anger,” says Stéphanie, 50, dressed in a blue hat and a Greens jersey. For two decades, she has worked for the brand, at the company’s headquarters. “We really want the Casino brand to continue in Saint-Etienne, it is the identity of the territory. It’s as if we were defending the city’s brand,” she says, adding that she “feels like we’re living a second Manufrance.”
Another flagship of Saint-Etienne, the arms factory experienced dark times in the 1980s before disappearing from the landscape. “I did not experience this period but I was told about it,” continues Stéphanie, believing that “the closure of Casino would be a trauma for the city and an earthquake for the job market”. In the area, the group has between 4,000 and 5,000 employees.
“It would be a huge disaster. All the suppliers and service providers who revolve around the headquarters, all the stores which depend on the group will also pay the price,” adds Cécile at the head of the procession. She says she is “very pessimistic” and cannot imagine a miracle solution. For her, Casino “represents” 27 years of career and “a whole life”, a “job that she loves”: “Unfortunately, everything will stop”, she predicts while raising the portrait of Geoffroy Guichard, grocer and founder of the Saint-Etienne empire.
“My great-grandfather must be turning in his grave”
“My great-grandfather must be turning in his grave seeing this,” says Xavier Kemlin, one of the family heirs. I cannot accept seeing his work destroyed to this extent, he who was a creator of family allowances, he who created the stadium in his name. We can’t let this happen. It is not possible. No, that’s not possible. »
The man announces that he wants to “propose a global recovery plan to employees” next Wednesday. “I don’t have a billion on hand… but it turns out,” he slips. And to repeat: “We cannot let this happen. “. At the end of 2022, the debt of the group, which employs 50,000 employees in France and 200,000 worldwide, amounted to more than six billion euros.
“But how did we get to this point? », asks Nathalie Devienne, spokesperson for the inter-union before bursting into tears. “We were given no chance. “It’s a whole story that’s going away,” she continues, her eyes still red, indicating that she has the feeling that “history is repeating itself.” In 1997, the group had already experienced significant financial difficulties. At the time, “the union organizations had worked hand in hand with management to save Casino” which Promodès was eyeing. “We got there and that allowed us to hold on until now,” she continues. This time, we are all alone, management is not with us. But we are going to fight because… it is unimaginable, unthinkable to close Casino. »