This Monday, the Paris Commercial Court will work on the takeover files of La Grande Récré, placed in liquidation at the end of April. One more company – after Camaïeu, Go Sport, Gap France – that its owner, Michel Ohayon, led to its loss.
Initially, three players had positioned themselves on the toy brand which employs 1000,140 employees in 45 stores: two chains in the same sector (JouéClub and King Jouet) and a network of shoe stores (Chaussea). Finally, they should be only two to present an offer: JouéClub and Chaussea. Last Wednesday, King Jouet, which planned to take over 529 stores and <> employees, threw in the towel.
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Preservation of 1000 jobs
La Grande Récré "is a network in difficulty since its first receivership, in 2018, which impacted stores and investments in points of sale. It takes significant measures to redress all this, "said the CEO of King Jouet, Philippe Gueydon, who spoke of an investment of 200,000 euros per store to straighten the bar. King Jouet did not want to embark on the adventure while it took over 95 Maxi Toys toy stores in France in 2022.
In fact, JouéClub is the favorite. "We are the only ones to offer a global takeover offer," says its president, Jacques Baudoz. The brand, which has 290 points of sale, wants to take over 90% of La Grande Récré's own network, its fifty franchise stores and its corners in other brands (Casino, Total ...) while keeping the brand.
Its offer would preserve in total "more than 1,000direct or indirect jobs," says the chain. For its part, Chaussea, which has 500 stores in Europe including 250 in France, says it has "submitted an offer on a number of stores" to "transform them into Chaussea". The court will appoint the buyer at a later date.
