They are in anguish. Officially, no closure has been announced at Leader Price of Trosly-Breuil (Edges of the Oise) east of Compiègne. But entering the store is a unique experience: the shelves are empty. Apart from a few canned goods, leftover cakes, a few bottles of alcohol, there is nothing left to buy. The customers have understood this well, they who have deserted the brand for weeks. The employees, two assistants acting as managers and three multi-skilled workers, are twiddling their thumbs, whether at the cash register which no longer beeps, in reserve where stocks are empty, or in the absolutely deserted shelves.
THE store of Fitz-James in Clermontois is in the same situation.
“No delivery since September”
“There has been no delivery since the beginning of September,” according to the employees who, on condition of anonymity, thus justify the strange appearance of their brand. As the shelves were emptied due to lack of supplies, “the store was also emptied of its customers,” they say. “Word of mouth spread quickly and there were also those who couldn’t find what they wanted and logically went elsewhere,” they explain. “When we meet old customers,” they continue, “they tell us “Well, is the store going to close?”, and the worst part is that we don’t even know…”
An empty store, and therefore no work for the five employees, who nevertheless continue to clock in, in order to avoid any accusation of abandoning their position. “Right now, we go to work and do nothing. We wait. There are no deliveries to receive, no shelves to stock, no customers, nothing. We spend fuel to go “to work” – it’s expensive – and in exchange, we don’t even get paid.”
Delays or even absences of salaries
Not paid or paid very late. “Some received their last salary, that of September, in mid-October,” they report, “others have had nothing since August: they are missing the months of September and October.” And soon November? “We don’t know,” they say.
As Christmas approaches – some have children – “we don’t even know if we’re going to be able to give presents”. A terrible situation which is already having consequences in the daily lives of store employees. “The accounts are in the red, we can no longer pay, when the pay arrived after the 10th of the month it was already hard with the deadlines falling, but now we have to make do with a month – or more – without salary , it’s a hassle,” we explain to Leader Price in Trosly-Breuil. Because they have not been able to pay their bills, some have already lost their cell phone and/or internet lines. “We’ll have to call the banker,” they despair.
A store sold to an independent two years ago
But how did we get there? Created in 1986, Leader Price, a well-known French discount franchise, joined the Casino group in 1997. But in 2020, the group decided to sell part of its points of sale to the German discounter Aldi. It then retained only 90 stores out of 640. Among the survivors of the transaction, the Trosly-Breuil and Fitz-James stores near Clermont. Two years ago, however, the brand decided to place its remaining 90 stores under independent franchising. “We were taken over by an independent, things were going well, the store was still operating,” say Trosly employees. Until six months ago: “We were sold again, to another independent buyer who now owns three stores: us, Fitz-James and another near Clermont-Ferrand (Auvergne)”. The name of the manager: Imene Aoufi.
The owner plays dead
“The first month was good,” the employees explain, “and so was the second. But from the third month, the salary fell later. Then it got worse and worse.” Until the situation we know today, and the delays or absence of pay. “We don’t even know what’s going on,” confide the employees, who are more than worried, “she’s never at the store, and when we try to call her, send her messages or emails, she doesn’t pick up. not or does not respond.” She plays dead.
Suspicions of organized insolvency
An inextricable situation from which they do not know how to get out. “We saw that the employees of Brassac-les-Mines, in Auvergne, had an appointment at the commercial court at the beginning of December because the situation is the same for them,” we confide to Trosly-Breuil. A CGT official expressed her conviction on the matter to France 3 Rhône-Alpes: “We suspect organized insolvency. We understood that we were dealing with a somewhat dubious boss, because the capital is 1,000 euros.”
Specialized sites allocate two types of business to the owner Imene Aoufi. She would thus be president ofHestia Global Consultinga consulting company. The legal form of the company, a SAS (Simplified joint stock company), suggests an SME-sized company, or even one with a single employee: the manager. Hestia Global Consulting is registered in Villeneuve-le-Comte in Seine-et-Marne and has been active since February 2023.
Its other activity actually concerns discount distribution. Imene Aoufi has registered three other SAS, from September 2023, one per store purchased. She fixed their headquarters at 37, boulevard Berthier in Paris. In the description of these three SAS, we can read “general power supply”. We can clearly see the two Isarian stores under the names HGC51 and HGC52 whose creation dates (June 2024 and July 2024) correspond to the purchase dates of the two mini-markets. The capital of these two companies: 200 euros each. This portends the worst…
“For six months, we have been in total nothingness”
So now what can the brand’s Isarian employees do? Industrial tribunal? Commercial court? “We don’t know which door we should knock on, but we have to find someone to get us out of there,” say the Trosly-Breuil employees. And quickly, because there is an emergency: “We won’t be able to hold on for long,” these employees consider in fear. Angry employees too: “When she bought it, she promised wonders: “We’re going to do this, we’re going to do that, we’re going to change things,” they remember. “But for six months, nothing, we have been in total nothingness.”
The manager of the two stores, Madame Imene Aoufi did not respond to our requests.
