Duralex is back… with Le Slip français!

The “Duralexiens and Duralexiennes”, a neologism coined by François Marciano, general manager of the La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin glassworks, have not been idle in five weeks since the Orléans commercial court awarded them ownership of the company in receivership on July 26.

On Monday, September 2, they presented their new partnership with Le Slip français, another brand, although younger, emblematic of made in France.

Internet users can purchase glasses and briefs for a limited collection.

Six euros per pair of underwear for the Scop

The goal, in order to raise capital for the brand new Scop (cooperative and participatory company), is to sell 50,000 packs of Gigogne cups, engraved or not with little phrases (“the glass half full”, “Allons enfants de la cantine”…) at the more expensive than usual price of 35 euros. Boxer shorts, which display the Duralex logo, are also sold for 30 euros each.

The boxer shorts are Duralex branded!

“We will donate 6 euros per unit to the Scop” explained Guillaume Gibault, president of Le Slip français, present this Monday for the grand morning of the official launch of the cooperative, in the presence of elected officials, partners, journalists and employees. Everything is sold on the Le Slip website. This original partnership was born as soon as the receivership was announced last April and the reaction on Linkedin of the general manager of Le Slip français: “It was impossible to let Duralex die”.François Marciano with Léa Marie, general manager of Le Slip français and Guillaume Gibault, president of the brand created in 2011.

Greet the associated employees

This Monday was also an opportunity to salute the brand new SCOP and its associated employees. “We preferred to be alone rather than poorly supported,” explained the director, who came up with the idea. But it was not easy to seduce the banks once again after “six bankruptcies”!

The Orléans commercial court has chosen the Scop

The project received the attentive ear of the Region and Orléans Métropole. Who put 49 people around the table, for “fourteen meetings”. “They asked us 10,000 questions!”, said the director.

138 out of 226 employees, for the moment, have entered the capital of the Scop, for a sum of 500 euros minimum. The Region should double the total (estimated at 60,000 euros today) at the end of September. It has also granted a deferred repayment advance of one million euros and guarantees, with Bpifrance, 50% of the bank loans.

“Planter Duralex pour 9 millions ?”

It was this gesture and especially that of Orléans Métropole that convinced the commercial court on July 26, as well as the banks (Crédit Agricole Centre-Loire and Caisse d’Epargne Loire-Centre, as well as France Active and Socoden). They lent a total of 4 million euros, while Duralex needed a minimum of 9 million euros.

“We would have planted Duralex for 9 million euros? That was inconceivable,” exclaimed Serge Grouard, president of the Métropole. A principle defended, in the same way, by François Bonneau, president of the Region, who also spoke after Valérie Barthe, mayor of La Chapelle, very present, and Sophie Brocas, prefect, who struggled to obtain very quickly the authorization to export.

Local elected officials reacted quickly

Unable to lend directly, the Metropolis therefore decided to acquire the
14 hectares of land where the factory is located. The final sale price (probably between 5 and 6 million euros) should soon be presented to elected officials in order to sign, probably next May.

This will give the community latitude to carry out work to reduce energy consumption. It was, in fact, the sharp rise in the price of gas and electricity that led to the plant being closed for five months, at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, which precipitated its collapse. “We are also looking at whether it is possible to use water from the treatment plant instead,” Serge Grouard also predicts.

The latter also alluded to the responsibility of La Maison du Verre, which had acquired Duralex in 2021 to create synergies with Pyrex: “When the profits are largely sucked up by others, we can talk about misuse!”

It’s time for optimism

But, this Monday morning, the time was clearly for optimism, joy, and congratulations for the “audacity”, “hard work”, and “conviction” of the Duralexiens, “these fighters”, as François Marciano called them. An optimism that led the CEO to say that the 40 million euros in turnover targeted for 2029 will probably be reached before then. If the average had been around 30 million recently, the figure had fallen to 24.6 million in 2023.

“We must adjust the figure to Duralex’s capacity” and not the other way around, “have absolute rigor in financial management, increase equity, perpetuate and modernize the production system”, advises Serge Grouard.

This will be the work of both François Marciano and Vincent Vallin, the new strategy director who helped the director build the project.

Recruitment, projects…

Vincent Vallin plans to recruit four key export account managers (75% of the turnover is generated internationally) and four marketing managers, in order to “review distribution from A to Z” and display the right price. A new roadmap will be unveiled in the first quarter of 2025.

Only one production line out of five is currently running. But the turnover is already higher than expected, due to the enthusiasm “that is beyond us”, said Vincent Vallin. The company will already start by selling its large stock and then open a second line from time to time in order to ramp up.

A new range of clip-on storage boxes should inaugurate the launch of “three new products per year”. The company also hopes to conquer “100% of French canteens”, open a factory outlet, develop Internet sales, install control meters to reduce energy consumption, buy a bulk packaging machine…

And a new fundraising is already underway!

Carole Tribout