A hundred franchisees is estimated to have been prevented from continuing their activity throughout the containment. They ask for 12.7 million euros of damage and interests.
A hundred franchisees Darty assign in justice Fnac Darty to have, according to them, prevented them from continue their activity for the containment, in particular via a “click and collect”, a-t we learned Thursday with their representative, which the group denies.
The “group of franchisees Darty”, which represents 85% of the membership of the sign, request 12.7 million euros in damages and interest, or “the whole of the shortfall” during the period, explained their president, Frederick Loquin, by confirming an information of the magazine the Official of the Franchise.
as Soon as the announcement on 15 march by the government of the closure of the shops “non-essential” in order to stem the pandemic of Covid-19, the franchisees of the network Darty have been forced to stop any activity by their franchisor, which has suspended their supply, then they would have been able to continue to take orders via “click and collect”, they argue in their assignment, which was read to AFP.
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“there has been no equity of treatment”
During this time, the site “Darty.com has continued to deliver throughout France without any restriction, and the two” shop-in-shop “[shop in shop] Darty installed in two Carrefour hypermarkets have continued their activity”, stressed Fédéric Loquin.
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Finally, the franchisees would complain not to have received payment delays after having seen their cash greatly diminished by two months of closure, while Fnac Darty has obtained a loan of 500 million euros, of which 70% are guaranteed by the State. Claiming to be a “seriously injured” by this policy “as deliberate as unfair”, they are demanding the compensation for the damage suffered. The hearing will be held on September 10, before the tribunal de commerce of Paris.
“For us, it is a case of two weights two measures, there has been no equity of treatment between those who were able to continue working and the other”, adds Frédéric Loquin, saying, however, “open to negotiation” with its franchisor.
Sell it at a loss
Benoît Jaubert, director of operations of Fnac Darty, countered that the group “had never prevented (its) franchisees of work : be very clear that this”. “The franchisees have had the opportunity during the confinement to make the ‘click and collect’, they have also been the first to do it, and some were even open before 11 may,” he pointed out. According to him, the franchise is the “sales channel of the most dynamic of the group Fnac Darty since the déconfinement”.
the behavior of The group was “very poorly received by our members”, says Frédéric Loquin, which states that “the management of the containment was only the trigger” of the assignment, the franchisor and franchisees to be in conflict since “over three years”. In a second assignment, the grouping of franchisees request to Fnac Darty to stop the practices leading to force them to sell it at a loss, arising in particular from the famous “contract of confidence Darty”. According to them, the text “banned for franchisees to control their margins and, even worse, compromise their cost-effectiveness”.
“we need to relativize.” replied Benoît Jaubert : on this story, “it has already resolved the matter for the previous years and is in the process of working to find solutions” to the current folder, “and this in the coming weeks”.
