The Casino Group’s recovery has not yet been completed and another French distributor is already asking for help. According to several sources, a first meeting was organized, Monday February 26, under the aegis of the interministerial committee for industrial restructuring, attached to Bercy, concerning the GiFi group, which has 600 points of sale and employs 6,800 people, for a figure business of 1.3 billion euros in 2023.
The brand, specializing in low-cost home and family equipment, founded in 1981 by Philippe Ginestet – “Gi” for Ginestet and “Fi” for Philippe – asked its banks to renegotiate its debt, part of which was guaranteed by the State during the Covid-19 crisis. The group also appears to be late in VAT payments. According to a person familiar with the matter, “the subject is taken very seriously at Bercy, taking into account, in particular, the social issues”. Particularly at the company’s headquarters, in Villeneuve-sur-Lot (Lot-et-Garonne), where 800 employees work.
For its part, GiFi wants to be reassuring. “GiFi is a resilient company that has always been profitable and has overcome all the successive crises in our country since the Covid years,” insists Philippe Ginestet, in an email specifying to World. The group explains that it is a profitable company, but that this critical situation is linked to a chaotic migration, launched in June 2023, of all of its information systems towards new software called ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), intended to automate, in particular, the brand’s supplies.
A new plan
Missing products in stores, orders that do not arrive at the right points of sale, this translates into less turnover, and therefore lower cash receipts, particularly at the end of the year, a major period. for distribution. “Every two or three years, there is someone who hits the wall because of a computer switch, relates an expert in the sector. Boulanger almost died about ten years ago when he remained for several months without being able to deliver. »
GiFi one “took advantage of the challenges caused by the complex implementation of a new ERP to relaunch a new dynamic for the group”, continues Mr. Ginestet, recalling being “pending the payment of significant compensation from our insurers linked to Covid”.
According to our information, the discussions with Crédit Mutuel, Crédit Agricole or BNP Paribas aim to provide financing to Mr. Ginestet’s holding company, to allow the entrepreneur to reinject funds into his business. The brand is refining a new strategic plan aimed at recovering turnover. GiFi account, in particular, on its development in Ile-de-France based on Bricolex DIY store seizures, resumed in March 2023.
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