There were more than 150 employees in the 19th century, before the development of the press. In the bag of the hawkers, the images of Epinal (Vosges), pious, political or educational, illustrated France and transmitted knowledge. Today, there are only three employees left. And many questions about the sustainability of the company. The situation of the Imagery, 224 years old, will be examined this Tuesday by the Vosges commercial court on requisition of the prosecutor, who requests the appointment of a judicial representative.
The past six years have plunged the company to the brink. In 2014, l'Imagerie was bought for 850,000 euros by a Parisian duo, Christine Lorimy and Pacôme Vexlard, with financial support from the municipality. A fundraiser was launched in 2016, four investors injected 1.2 million euros. The leaders have the ambition to dust off the Image of Epinal. The regional cartoonists, deemed corny, are dismissed in favor of Parisians.
The image of Epinal is no longer solely on posters and calendars, it is available on wallpapers and cushions. "With the fundraising, we have developed a range of interior decoration and renovated the premises," explains Christine Lorimy.
Investor goes to court
In 2019, one of the “business angels” (Editor's note : angel investor in English) , Hervé de Buyer, 88-year-old Vosges industrialist, filed a complaint. Put aside, he has no access to the accounts and does not know where his 900,000 euros went. He asked the courts to appoint a court administrator. He was dismissed in October but he continues to challenge the public prosecutor.
In January, the latter applied to the Commercial Court “with a view to opening a bankruptcy or bankruptcy procedure for the companies that make up the Imagerie d'Epinal group. These requests follow in particular the financial difficulties noted within the various companies of the group, which presented a loss result at the close of the last accounting year of the year 2018, "specifies Nicolas Heitz, the attorney of Epinal.
The company lost 600,000 euros for a turnover of just 500,000 euros. The premises were also searched by the SRPJ of Nancy, which opened an investigation into the abuse of social property. But, even stuck in legal proceedings, owner Christine Lorimy (alone in charge after the departure of Pacôme Vexlard in 2018) still has plans.
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She wishes to create a hotel with around fifty rooms within the premises. A “wacky” idea for mayor Michel Heinrich. The municipality, which recovered the money injected during the buyout, is monitoring the situation of its flagship very closely, especially as it remains the owner of the walls and part of the machinery.
