The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Fast delivery: Flink placed in receivership in France

2023-06-05T20:51:14.031Z

Highlights: Flink's French subsidiary placed in receivership by the Paris Commercial Court. German group has decided to leave the French market and is looking for a buyer. Flink uses 19 dark stores in 9 cities in France and "about two-thirds of this business is operated from stores" The "quick commerce" sector has emerged thanks to the Covid-19 epidemic and offers in a few minutes the delivery of everyday products, similar to those sold in a supermarket. It is strongly criticized by elected officials who denounce the arrival of "warehouse cities", nuisances for local residents.


The German group specializing in fast grocery deliveries has decided to leave the French market and is looking for a buyer.


The "quick commerce" sector, a sector of fast home grocery deliveries, continues to wither. The French subsidiary of the delivery driver Flink, which employs several hundred employees, was placed on Monday in receivership by the Paris Commercial Court, the German parent company having "decided to leave the French market", announced its management.

In doing so, it makes way for its Turkish competitor Getir, whose French subsidiary has recently also been placed in receivership, but which now becomes the only player in "quick commerce" to have declared that it wishes to continue its activity in France.

For Flink, "the reasons are essentially regulatory," explained Flink France's CEO, Guillaume Luscan, who was keen to highlight "all the progress made towards achieving profitability in France".

Dark stores, warehouses, not shops

The "quick commerce" has emerged thanks to the lockdowns linked to the Covid-19 epidemic and offers in a few minutes the delivery of everyday products, similar to those sold in a supermarket. It is strongly criticized by elected officials who denounce the arrival of "warehouse cities", nuisances for local residents, even the development of the "economy of laziness".

In March, the sector suffered a major setback, with the government decreeing that "dark stores" - the premises where products for delivery are stored - were warehouses, not shops, paving the way for town halls to regulate this activity. Indeed, these premises could be forced to close if the Local Urban Plan (PLU) prohibits this type of activity at their address.

Read alsoIn Paris, behind the scenes of the Flink warehouse: "The dark store label is hard to wear"

Flink uses 19 dark stores in 9 cities in France and "about two-thirds of this business is operated from stores," Luscan said. "Our model works from the moment we are close to our customers" and, with the new regulations, "it is no longer possible", regretted the general manager who specified that "the objective is to find a buyer".

"We were building a sustainable model"

At the end of April, the British business daily Financial Times claimed, on the basis of sources close to the matter, that discussions were underway regarding a takeover by the Getir group of its German competitor Flink. Asked by AFP, Getir declined to comment.

On Monday, Flink France said he "was focused on preparing the receivership file". "We were building a sustainable model," with Carrefour as a "key investor and partner," Luscan said. Established in France for two years, Flink had bought its French competitor Cajoo in May 2022, which it had absorbed.

Source: leparis

All business articles on 2023-06-05

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.