Concentration on Romandy
Fnac Switzerland is closing ten sales outlets in German-speaking Switzerland
It was a short guest appearance. The French multimedia and electronics chain Fnac only expanded into German-speaking Switzerland in 2021. Now it’s over again.
Published: 23 minutes ago
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It was a short guest appearance: Fnac closes 10 sales outlets in German-speaking Switzerland.
The French multimedia and electronics chain Fnac is closing a large part of its sales outlets in Manor department stores in German-speaking Switzerland. A total of ten “shop-in-shop” branches with around 60 employees are affected by the closure.
The trading group wants to focus on western Switzerland again, where it has been active for 20 years, the operational manager of Fnac-Darty, François Gazuit, told the AWP news agency. With the measures, he wants to ensure “profitable and sustainable growth” for the Swiss subsidiary.
17 Manor outlets left
“We will retain 17 points of sale within the Manor as well as our nine own boutiques,” said the manager. In addition to the locations in French-speaking Switzerland, Fnac Switzerland will also retain the Manor sales rooms in Biel, Basel, Emmen and Lugano. Fnac Switzerland opened 27 “shop-in-shops” in the Geneva group’s department stores nationwide in 2021 as part of a collaboration with Manor.
The ten sales outlets affected by the reorganization would now be closed between April and the end of June, Gazuit explained. “We are closing these ten sales outlets because they have a lower customer frequency compared to western Switzerland.” Fnac Switzerland wants to focus again on those sales outlets that have high development potential.
Positive profitability
Gazuit was convinced that the 17 remaining sales rooms in the Manor stores would reach a critical size this year. Fnac Switzerland also operates nine independent boutiques. In the past year, these had generated “slightly declining sales with stable positive profitability”, said the Fnac manager.
Fnac currently employs around 600 people across Switzerland. The people affected by the restructuring should now be offered “individual solutions”.
The reorganization will also affect management in Switzerland. The current General Manager of Fnac Switzerland, Cédric Stassi, will be replaced by Adrien Rétoré. The contract between Manor and Fnac Switzerland runs until 2025.