The centenary brand of metal furniture Tolix is not immune to the effects of the pandemic.
The company of 60 employees, located in Autun (Saône-et-Loire), also accuses the blow.
"We are at the minimum and we hesitate for the moment to rehire,"
says Chantal Andriot, CEO of Tolix.
In 2020, turnover decreased by 20% compared to 2018 (8 million euros) and, in 2021, exports will be below the 50% mark despite the start of the recovery recorded in the American market. .
But everything should be fine.
"We expect the balance no later than 2022,"
said Chantal Andriot.
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Sparkling gaze, calm voice, the leader of Tolix has seen others and is not easily impressed. In July 2004, the company created by Xavier Pauchard in 1908 was placed in compulsory liquidation. She had communities, factories, offices as her clients… Chantal Andriot, then financial director, had home for thirty years.
“Customer expectations no longer matched what we were offering,
” she explains.
Despite my remarks, things were not moving. ”
In this collapse, she was convinced of the potential of the company on condition of rejuvenating the brand.
She opened up to the accountant and drew up a recovery plan.
It was based on the use of a wider palette of colors to give a facelift to chair A and stool H. Chantal Audriot also felt that Tolix should focus on indoor and outdoor furniture.
His project won at the commercial court of Chalon-sur-Saône.
The banks initially refused to accompany him.
“They were very cautious,”
notes Chantal Andriot.
It bought Tolix for 145,000 euros with a few shareholders and only matched the current account.
Out of the hundred or so employees, it was only able to keep about twenty.
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Another hard blow, Tolix sold directly as well as to mail order companies.
To continue their collaboration, the latter required a balance sheet.
“I was taking over the business, so I didn't have one.
They told me to come back when I could present one to them, in a year.
I had the impression that everything was falling apart, ”she
admits.
Fortunately, the decoration shops were there and, in the United States, Chantal Andriot was able to rely on an efficient sales agent.
From January 2005, she exhibited at the Parisian trade fair Maison & Objet.
She put forward her iconic items - the A chair, the H stool - and wardrobes, all in pastel tones.
Never seen.
“It appealed to customers.
I even offered a khaki cabinet with pink doors.
The press has talked about it a lot
,
”
smiles the president of Tolix.
In the Autun factory
Sales took off immediately. Chantal Andriot continued to work on design, to expand the catalog. Between 2007 and 2013, she called on the Normal Studio agency for the artistic direction which gave new impetus to the brand. Tolix has released, among other things, a collection for children, the Y trestles ... The business manager then called on designers such as Patrick Norguet in 2014 for his stainless steel chair, Pauline Deltour in 2020 for a collection of designer furniture. outside. His garden armchair was awarded by
Elle Déco
.
Drawings, prototyping, production… Everything still happens in the Autun factory.
“I wanted to keep the know-how and the quality that exist in the region.
It also allows for more speed and less stock.
A new wheelchair can be manufactured in one to two years depending on its
technical
complexity
,
”
explains Chantal Andriot.
This year, to adapt
to teleworking and smaller spaces, it reduced the depth of the furniture.
At the same time, she pays great attention to the components used and uses as little plastic as possible.
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Tolix produces 100,000 pieces per year sold in decoration shops, interior designers, professionals, art schools, etc. The company has notably equipped Paris airports and the Disneyland Paris park. Best of all, chair A is on display at the Musuem of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York, the Center Georges-Pompidou in Paris and the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany.
For its president, Tolix is much more than an activity:
“It's a passion as much as a job, for my children as well as for me.
We wear it, we live it, ”
she says.
In 2012, his daughter Aurélie took over the reins of production and finance;
his son Alexandre is responsible for the France, Switzerland and Belgium markets.
The company therefore remains a family affair and the succession therefore seems to have been found.
Nothing is certain, replies Chantal Andriot.
It has just set up a management committee made up of five executives.
The rest remains to be written.
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