The shoe manufacturer Minelli avoided liquidation by being sold to a new group, but it will only take over around a third of the employees and half of the stores, according to a decision by the Marseille commercial court.
The new entity, called “Maison Minelli”, is made up of three buyers: the luxury brand “Mes Demoiselles Paris” and the investors “DS Invest” and “Union Brothers”. The brand specializing in shoes, which was taken over at the beginning of 2022 by the managers of the Marseille brand San Marina, itself now liquidated, was placed in receivership in September.
Of the approximately 600 employees that Minelli employed at the end of 2023, only 213 will be taken over on permanent contracts, and only 47 stores (39 stores and 8 corners in shopping centers) out of the 120 will be retained. “It’s a bloodletting at the social level which is hard to live with but it was almost obligatory when we see the scope of the brand and the crisis the sector is going through,” explained Christian Macquaire, CFE-CGC union representative. and vice president of the National Union Shoe Union. “Minelli is doing quite well and we will be able to get off to a good start,” he assured, adding that “ready-to-wear is very affected, with a lot of players, and we are behind on the digital”.
This is also one of the areas of development presented by the buyers before the court when presenting their offer in December. They assured that they wanted to work on “the development of communication, particularly digital”, the “overhaul of distribution methods”, “the strengthening of Minelli’s flagship accessories and products” and “the renovation of the retained store base”.
“This takeover should allow Minelli to maintain its place in the world of know-how and high-end fashion,” said the shoemaker in a press release. In addition, another offer made by Modessa France was accepted by the court, selling the Minelli store in downtown Montpellier, with three employees, which will be operated under the “Sometimes” brand.
Created in 1973, Minelli, a brand of shoes intended mainly for women and leather goods, thus escapes the fate of other ready-to-wear brands, a sector shaken for several months by a violent crisis. This is marked by new consumption habits, inflation, rising costs of energy and raw materials, commercial rents and even competition from second-hand goods and fast fashion.