“False report” according to the owner
Wild sales rumors about traditional department store Manor
According to media reports, the traditional house Manor will soon be in new hands. However, Blick has an internal memo from the owner Maus-Frères, which speaks to employees of a “false report”. But the speculation is not over with that.
Published: 6 minutes ago
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Updated: 5 minutes ago
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Manor has 59 department stores in Switzerland.
Patrick Bergerreporter economy
The rumor mill is churning. And how! The department store group Manor is apparently looking for a buyer. “After more than 100 years, the two Swiss retail dynasties Maus and Nordmann are about to break their family tradition: their Manor department store chain is to be sold,” writes the “Handelzeitung”. According to industry insiders, owner Maus Frères is looking around for a buyer for Manor. Various independent sources would have reported this to the newspaper.
“Manor has been for sale for a long time,” says a Swiss retail expert. And: “The dossier was already available before the pandemic. And has been circulating again for a few months.” Another insider can be quoted: “It’s quite possible that we will hear about the sale next week.”
Blick has internal writing
Manor internally, however, the ball is kept flat. In red and bold letters, a letter to the employees on the Manor intranet that Blick says: “False report!” And even more clearly: «Manor is not for sale. Manor is in good hands with Maus Frères.» Manor CEO Jérôme Gilg (46) writes this personally to the employees. In the same memo, Thierry Guibert (52), CEO of Maus Frères, doubles down: “Manor, as Switzerland’s leading department store, is at the heart of our Swiss strategy and is an integral part of our group of companies.” And further: “There are no plans of any kind to sell Manor.”
The speculations are not completely out of the world.
Real estate remains lucrative
The background to the intended deal could be that the Manor owner should part with the department store business, but not with the real estate in the best location. Because you can still make good money with it today. And significantly more if you rent shop space but do not operate it yourself.
Unless you work in the lucrative luxury segment. However, this is not Manor. Manor is in the middle price segment. Has 59 department stores, 27 grocery stores and 24 own restaurants. Is, so to speak, the Migros of department stores – with reasonable prices. However, the critical size has not been reached. So a sale would make perfect sense.
Sales have shrunk
Exactly what Manor earns remains a mystery. The secretive Geneva parent company for the department store chain, which celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2022, has not announced any sales figures since 2017. At that time it was still 2.5 billion francs a year. Today it should be no more than 2 billion.
Manor is currently suffering primarily from competition from Zalando. And desperately trying to catch up in digital commerce. Especially in the fields of fashion, beauty and home and household. Manor also relies on shops in the shop from sporting goods retailers Decathlon and Fnac (multimedia). But that doesn’t seem to be enough.