Placed under judicial administration since the end of April, the Gibert bookstore group unveiled on Friday a plan to return to profitability by 2028, which includes the elimination of 84 of the 500 jobs in the company during the second half of the year.
Targeted closures despite a rescue plan
According to a spokesperson for the group, this project was presented on Friday to employee representatives and trade unions at a works council meeting, with whom the details still need to be discussed in the coming weeks. Management assures that all internal and external redeployment opportunities will be explored for the employees concerned.
While the majority of the network's sixteen outlets, spread across twelve cities including five in Paris, are expected to return to profitability according to the company's forecasts, some will nevertheless remain unprofitable. The group is therefore considering targeted closures, particularly in the Barbès district of Paris, as well as seeking buyers for other stores, such as those in Poitiers or one of its flagship bookstores in the Latin Quarter.
The second-hand book at the heart of the new strategy
The plan aims to place second-hand books at the heart of the group's business model, a market that is growing by about 10% per year and offers higher margins than new books, while relying on expertise in the sector claimed by the brand since 1886.
Gibert also intends to strengthen its territorial network through affiliation, allowing independent bookstores to benefit from the brand's reputation as well as its new and used catalogue, in a context marked by the overall decline in reading and the increasing competition from online sales sites.
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