Le Figaro Lyon
Everywhere around Saint-Étienne, the slag heaps, mountains of mining waste, testify to the industrial past of the city. The blast furnaces disappeared without a trace in the tumult of the twentieth century. In the city of seven hills, the Casino brand remains the last representative of this great local economic history. The global headquarters of the brand is still located there, in the district of Châteaucreux, opposite the station. On its pediment, one can read "Casino Forever" accompanied by the pun "Strong and Green" which testifies to the ancient entanglement between the group and the local football team, AS Saint-Étienne.
But the global retail giant is currently teetering under the weight of its debt (6.4 billion euros) and its future worries the people of Saint-Etienne, especially since the announcement of the takeover of between 120 and 180 stores by the group Les Mousquetaires. For several years, Estelle Silbermann, secretary general CFDT Casino in the Loire alerted his management on the state of the group's finances and feared a sale "to the cut": "Here it is the syndrome of the Titanic, the orchestra still plays but the boat sinks". She, like others, fears an end "à la Manufrance", this arms manufacturer, jersey sponsor of the great AS Saint-Étienne between 1973 and 1979, which closed overnight. "Casino is so ingrained in the imagination here that everyone thinks it's impossible for it to flow. But the employees of Manufrance thought the same thing and we know the rest, "sighs the unionist.
Industrial engine of the Loire
Because to tell the story of Saint-Étienne is necessarily to talk about that of Casino. From the grocery store created at the end of the nineteenth century by Geoffroy Guichard, to the creation of factories and food warehouses in the interwar period, to the first hypermarket of the post-Second World War. Casino is also football and ASSE, first called the Amicale des employés de la Société Casino and whose white and green colors recall those of the blinds of the brand's supermarkets. A historic club whose stadium still bears the name of Geoffroy-Guichard. Casino was also the founder and main patron of the city's Museum of Modern Art. "Ask the people of Saint-Etienne, they will tell you that Casino is Saint-Étienne," says Estelle Silbermann.
For a long time, the group, one of the few to keep its headquarters in the provinces, was the figurehead of French industrial paternalism. He is one of the first to launch a corporate mutual and finances an entire local ecosystem. Dino Cinieri, LR deputy for the 4th constituency of the Loire since 2002 knows something about it. Son of Italian immigrants settled in the working-class suburb of Firminy, he worked as a caretaker in the parking lots of Casino supermarkets. Alternating between his safety work and the metallurgy plant in Le Chambon-Feugerolles, he met Antoine Guichard, Geoffroy's grandson, one evening during a surveillance. "He told me, 'You work a lot!' I was 19-4:45 p.m. at the Casino and then I would clock in at the factory at 5:30 a.m. At the time, I had the idea of setting up my security company but no bank wanted to lend me money," he says.
During the discussion with the big boss, he tells him about his financing problems and explains that he has an appointment the next day at the BNP. "When I arrived at the banker's office, the phone rang. It was Antoine Guichard's office on the other end of the line. He called the manager directly, stood surety, and I got my loan. Initially, we were four in the company, we ended up with 2500 employees, "recalls moved the deputy, who swears that stories like his "there are plenty in the Saint-Etienne region". "The Casino group, which has an identity, has made the nobility of the territory. It is responsible for tens of thousands of jobs here. It's a nugget in the Loire like Michelin is in Clermont," he adds.
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From popular protests to "a company like any other"
A carnal attachment between a territory and a company that took a popular form in 1997. At the time, the group was the subject of an unfriendly takeover bid by Promodes. 10,000 employees and Saint-Etienne residents demonstrate on the Place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville to preserve local employment. Four months later, Jean-Charles Naouri and Rallye became the majority members of the group. A turning point for the brand which is no longer under the direction of the founding family. "Since that time, we have seen the box change," says Thierry, at Casino for 35 years, in front of the headquarters of Châteaucreux.
Like many companies, the brand has adapted to the way the world works, say its employees. Internal promotions have become scarce at the same rate as work has been streamlined. We no longer meet the big bosses. "Before there was the human side. Everyone knew each other. We had time to do our work. We cared about the person on sick leave. Now we are a number. We only communicate by email even if the person is in the office next door. You have to do the work of four people and if possible return it the day before, "despairs Isabelle, also employed for 35 years at Casino.
The group is also less present in public life. Left the shareholding of the football club. And in the streets of the city, this entangled history between the company and the people of Saint-Etienne also seems to be fading little by little. "Oh Casino, I don't really care. It's more expensive than elsewhere, but I do my little shopping there because it's next to my home," Sylvie explains, shrugging her shoulders as she enters a supermarket of the brand. "The truth is that we have become a company like any other. People go in, stay for two-three years and then leave. There are also more jobs than before in Saint-Étienne. So people compare. And they go somewhere else. Even temporary workers don't come anymore," Isabelle continues.
"Saint-Etienne has always been able to react"
With 3000,10 direct jobs and about 000,2 indirect jobs, the company is still the largest employer in the region. And remains a hot topic for local elected officials who did not wish to answer our questions. Asked about the current sale at the last municipal council, Gaël Perdriau, the mayor of the city, displayed "his concern about the future for the head office" but assured, after speaking with the management, that "these jobs were not concerned" by the sale of part of the group's activities. "I am convinced that Casino will stay in Saint-Étienne, prophesies for his part Dino Cinieri. Whatever happens, I will fight tooth and nail for this to happen. And if it is necessary to question the Prime Minister or the President of the Republic, I will do it." And André Mounier, president of the Saint-Etienne CCI for twelve years concludes ironically: "Between the legal problems of the current mayor, the football club in Ligue 70 and the difficulties of Casino, we can say that enough is enough. But Saint-Étienne has always been able to react. We lost 000,80 jobs with the departure of Manufrance and the collapse of heavy metallurgy. Finally we found 000,<> then.
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