The Duralex factory in La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin, near Orléans, on July 31, 2024 in Loiret (AFP / GUILLAUME SOUVANT)
A month after Duralex became a cooperative, the employees of the legendary glassworks officially launched their new project on Monday, “reassured” to have saved their jobs, but above all “motivated” to take on the many challenges that await them.
“We are very happy to be able to start, it is a reward to be able to officially launch the SCOP after several weeks of struggle. We are starting from a blank page, but we are full of energy and ready to go,” the company’s general manager, François Marciano, enthuses to AFP during a day of grand opening of the factory to partners and journalists.
Yet Duralex, known worldwide for its reputedly unbreakable tableware, almost disappeared after yet another receivership in April, plunging the 226 employees into uncertainty about their future.
An uncertainty that was finally lifted on July 26, when the Orléans commercial court validated the employees’ Scop project, supported by 60% of the staff, led by the site management and supported by local elected officials.
– “Exemplary employees” –
For example, the Region promised its support in the form of a bank guarantee, when the Orléans metropolitan area offered to buy the glassworks site, for a sum estimated at between 5 and 8 million euros.
Duralex CEO François Marciano on July 31, 2024 in La Chappelle-Saiknt-Mesmin, near Orléans, in Loiret (AFP / GUILLAUME SOUVANT)
Mr. Marciano has also repeatedly stated that the Scop and its “precious supporters” had saved the jobs of “exemplary employees”, “real fighters”, today “motivated to make Duralex shine”.
This is the case, for example, of Laure Cerandon, workshop manager and employee of the glassworks for eleven years, who has followed all the legal twists and turns of her company in court.
“We are very proud that we were able to keep our jobs after so much uncertainty and work for ourselves,” she says. “Without the cooperative, I would not have stayed.”
Others, like Bérengère Perthuis, head of purchasing, do not hide their “great emotion”.
“It’s a new beginning, it’s been very hard to manage, there’s been a lot of stress in recent weeks. But today we feel a real energy and we all want to do well,” she rejoices, smiling.
The stated objective is to “sell” quickly and reach 40 million euros in turnover in 2029.
“We are confident in our ability to achieve this,” says the plant manager. However, the task is huge in a highly competitive sector: in 2023, its turnover, 80% dependent on international orders, fell to 24.6 million euros, compared to more than 31 million in 2022.
This will include optimizing production costs, as the company has been hit hard by the surge in energy prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
– “Unique craze” –
Duralex also plans to rethink its packaging, an operation which “is very expensive” and increases the unit price by up to 40 cents, according to industrial director Nicolas Rouffet.
A glass exhibited at the Duralex factory in La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin near Orléans, July 31, 2024 in Loiret (AFP / GUILLAUME SOUVANT)
These guidelines must be validated and ratified during the first general meeting of the Scop, scheduled for soon.
“Everything remains to be done,” acknowledges Vincent Vallin, the strategy director. “But there is a unique craze for Duralex: since the end of July, online orders have quadrupled.”
The glassworks, which boasts sales figures that are already better than expected, also plans to offer three new products for sale per year and is looking to fill 17 positions “immediately”, particularly in the sales sector.
To launch its new project, the brand has formalized a first collaboration with Le Slip français, the flagship of “Made in France”, with the aim of selling 50,000 glasses of a special edition, part of the sales of which will be donated directly to the Scop.
